


Becoming One

by alnima



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Daddy Liam, Daddy Louis, Family, Kid Fic, Kid Niall, M/M, daddies lilo, teenager Harry, toddler Zayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-03
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2017-12-28 04:03:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 137,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/987432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alnima/pseuds/alnima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam lives a quiet life with his son, Zayn. Louis lives a vibrant life with his two sons, Harry and Niall. </p><p>It's not easy being a single parent. And it's even harder being a single parent dating another single parent.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't know or own anyone. This work is my own and it is not featured on any other site, nor does anyone have my permission to repost it in its entirety. Thank you!!!

Life is hard when you’re a single parent. But somehow it feels just a teensy bit harder when you’re a single father. You don’t get the sympathetic smiles that you see women with children getting instead they look at you with a hint of a glare because they think you’re just getting your biweekly court appointed visits. Or there are the people that try to lecture you on the importance of finding your baby a mother because as they say it’s simply impossible for a child to grow up without a mother. 

Liam has read countless books and articles on parenting and specifically those designed for the single parent. They walked him through the hard years of raising an infant by himself. Liam needs things set out in lists with instructions and diagrams so having a child that doesn’t come born with a set instructions has been…interesting. 

Sometimes he considers joining a support group for single fathers so he can know that he’s not alone but his town really isn’t big enough and every time he mentions the thought his mother smiles fondly before shaking her head at him. She thinks the idea is silly because Liam is doing just fine. 

And Liam agrees that so far, yeah, he is doing all right. Luckily enough he was graced by God to get the greatest baby to have ever been born. 

Zayn is quiet and doesn’t fight the rules that have been laid out in their household. He’s only three but he likes to spend his time watching cartoons, coloring and drawing or attempting to read the giant stack of books Liam has for him lined along the bottom of the bookshelf in the living room. Zayn also enjoyed hours and hours of nap taking. If sleep was made for anyone it was Liam’s little boy. Any chance Zayn can get to close his eyes and curl up under a blanket with his stuffed bear, Fig, tucked under his arm he’ll take. 

Liam always finds him sprawled out on the living room floor with his eyes closed and little snores floating through the air, or laid out on the couch sleeping. A couple times he’s found Zayn passed out on his potty chair in the bathroom with his head slumped forward and his chin pressed against his chest. A few other times he’s found Zayn curled in a ball under his bed. He’s always sleeping and sometimes Liam panics. 

He’ll sneak into Zayn’s room and press his fingers against the boy’s pulse point to make sure it’s still there or he’ll put his hand under his sons nose to make sure air is still floating out. Most children fight with their parents when it comes to nap time but Zayn is always asking like clockwork if he can go and lie down. Its Liam that has to wake Zayn up every morning otherwise he’ll sleep until noon, demand a nap at three, and be passed out by eight. 

Which despite how much of a frenzy it sends Liam into when his son has been asleep for too long it also means he has plenty of time to take care of the paper work for the grocery store. 

Liam opened his own store seven months before Zayn was born and it had immediately taken off. It wasn’t his life dream to grow up and own a grocery store in the middle of a small town with a son and no wife. Liam had always envisioned himself meeting a girl and falling in love, getting married and having an abundance of children while he worked in an office somewhere. 

But life has a funny way of working out in ways you never imagined. 

~~~ 

Liam locks up the grocery store behind him as he flips the sign in the window to read closed. 

It’s late Thursday evening and Thursdays are always miserable in the store. It’s coupon day and it always brings out the crazy mothers desperately looking for the sales in order to help them feed their family. They rush into the store in herds and it’s not the first Thursday that Liam has had to break up a fight in the canned food aisle. He almost never stays until close but it’s Thursday and all of his employees are unruly teenagers or crabby middle-aged woman who refuse to participate. Plus his recent hire is an unruly teenager with a bad attitude and a name that Liam can’t remember for the life of him. A new employee with raging hormones on top of crazy mothers demanding sales does not make for a good day. 

Liam gets inside his car and makes his way over towards his mother’s house to pick up Zayn. He honestly doesn’t know what he’d do without the help of his mother on days like this. Thursday is the only day of the week that he can’t trust his employees to close shop. The one time he allowed it a boy named Stephen had ended up crying in the back room when a woman with expired coupons threw a fit. 

But Liam’s mother had offered to pick Zayn up from daycare and keep her at his house on Thursdays since Liam can’t do it. She keeps him until eight when Liam shows up with tired eyes and a soft smile. 

When he makes it to his mother’s he finds Zayn lying on the couch sleeping with his thumb in his mouth. It’s his bedtime and Liam’s mother says he’s been asleep for about an hour having been a bit cranky tonight. It doesn’t matter he’s in the middle of sleep because Zayn can always sense when Liam walks in the room so when Liam bends down to pick him up he’s not surprised to see Zayn smiling up at him with fluttering eyes and a dopey smile. 

He adjusts Zayn in his arms and thanks his mother quietly. Zayn wraps his arms around Liam’s neck and mumbles a quiet, “Dada” into his skin. 

“You smell like apples,” Liam replies as he carries Zayn out to the car. 

“Nana give me a bath,” Zayn explains and he picks his head up to kiss Liam on the cheek.

Liam says a silent thank you to his mother for doing that so he doesn’t have to wake up earlier than intended to give Zayn one. A double thank you because Zayn is already in his pajamas and Liam won’t have to wake him up again when they get home in order to do it himself. 

“So sleepy, Dada.” 

“I know, baby, but we’re going to get you in the car and head home, all right?”

Zayn nods his head and allows Liam to buckle him into his car seat without a fight as his head drops to the side and immediately falls asleep. Liam laughs lightly as he presses Zayn’s bear under his arm and shuts the car door quietly. 

He gets back into the car and glances at Zayn through the rear view mirror. He sympathizes with his son because Liam is also so very tired that he can feel it deep inside his bones. 

He’s still not used to being a single father no matter how long it’s been, but he’ll do it for Zayn. He’ll work crazy coupon Thursdays if it means maintaining their comfortable and quiet life together. 

~~~~~ 

The Tomlinson household has never been quiet and comfortable. They’re loud and spontaneous with just a dash of crazy. 

Louis loves his two sons more than anything he reminds himself of that as he tries not to break down Harry’s door in order to make him turn off or turn down that god-awful music. 

Louis doesn't remember being fifteen but he knows that he was definitely not as moody as his eldest son is. Fifteen years together and Harry is no longer the happy baby he used to be. His smile still lights up a room with dimples that make it even more adorable and his soft curls that Louis used to spend hours just carding fingers through still don his head. But hormones and teenage angst have wrapped themselves around his son and taken him hostage. 

Niall however, his youngest son at the age of ten, is still at the point where he loves his father and lets him know it. But then again Niall loves everyone and everyone loves him. Louis prays everyday that Niall will skip over the fatherly teenage hatred and stick to loving him. 

His children weren’t always like this nor was his house filled with angry rock music and a blonde shouting threats at the television while trying to watch a soccer match on the screen. No before it was filled with laughter and Disney soundtracks on loop with two dancing boys floating through the house on cloud nine. Their house was covered in pictures and arts and crafts the boys had done over the years. It still is but there haven’t been many recent additions since both boys are less interested in making things for their father and more interested in him making things for them. 

But Louis reminds himself that these are the struggles he signed up for the day he decided to adopt Harry. Louis has never had luck with men and he was young and fresh out of college with an attitude that he was not going to die alone so he applied for adoption. Louis didn’t need a man in order to start a family. He was going to do it on his own.

And he has. Boyfriends have floated in and out of their house but no one ever wanted to stay. Not when you’re the single parent of two boys. 

~~~ 

“Harry,” Louis shouts as he bangs on his sons bedroom door. “You have to leave for school in fifteen minutes. Turn off that music and get downstairs, now.”

Louis hears a ‘whatever’ shouted back at him before he makes his way down the hall towards Niall’s room and sees him flattening out his soccer jersey in the full-length mirror against the wall. “Are you almost ready?” Louis asks. 

Niall nods his head. “I have a game tonight. Are you going to be able to come?”

“Yes, of course. Now get your book bag and meet me in the car in five minutes, okay?”

“Wait, dad?”

“What?” Louis says as he turns back around to face his son. 

“Do you think Harry will come?” Niall asks he bites his lip with a hopeful expression. 

“I don’t know, bub. He might have to work. I’ll talk to him.”

Louis gets the boys into the car only seven minutes late. Tomlinson’s are never on time. It’s a family curse that Louis thinks has been passed down through the generations. 

He drops Niall off at the middle school with a wave and a shout of ‘I love you.’ Niall’s cheeks heat up and turn red as he ducks his head and runs away from the car. Louis sighs as he watches his son run off embarrassed because it used to never bother him. Before Niall would giggle like a mad man as he ran up the courtyard to his school shouting that he loved his father back. Now it was a hidden wave behind his back as he rushed off to find his friends. 

Louis shakes his head as he puts the car in gear and makes his way towards the high school to drop Harry off. Or rather makes his way to the shopping center two blocks away from the high school so Harry can avoid the painfully embarrassing task of having his friends see his dad drop him off. 

Louis pulls into the parking lot and watches Harry gather up his bag before making to step out of the car. Louis watches him go before he realizes that he never talked to Harry for Niall. 

“Wait,” Louis shouts out the window at Harry’s retreating figure. “Harry, come back here.”

Harry looks over his shoulder and rolls his eyes before making his way back. “What? You’re going to make me late.”

“You’re already late so talking to me really doesn’t matter now does it?” Louis replies with a smirk. Harry rolls his eyes again. “Niall has a soccer game tonight and I think he would really like it if you could make it.”

“Can’t,” Harry says.

“Do you have to work?”

“No, but I’m going over to Nick’s tonight and I’m not cancelling my plans because short stuff has a soccer game.”

“You never asked if you go over to Nick’s house.”

Harry rolls his eyes, again, for the third time and Louis has to resist the urge to smack him upside the head. “Can I go over to Nick’s house after school, Dad?”

Louis pretends to think about it for a moment, with a finger pressed to his chin as he eyes to roof of the car. “Um…no. You’ll come home after school and we’ll eat dinner together as a family and then we’ll go to Niall’s game and support him as a family.”

“Whatever.” Harry says as he backs away from the vehicle and makes his way towards school with his headphones on and not even sparing a wave towards his father. 

Louis shakes his head as he watches his son go because if he had known how hard life was raising two children on his own than maybe he would have listened to his mother when she ranted on about the importance of a two parent household. 

It’s hard being a single parent, and sometimes Louis desperately wishes that he had someone around to help him.


	2. Chapter 2

Liam wakes up late, well late for him on a Saturday with the sun hung up in the sky, bleeding through his blinds and creating a harsh light that is far too bright to be the early morning he likes to wake up at. He rolls over and glances at the clock next to his bed and sees that it’s nearly ten thirty. It’s his day off and he has nowhere to be but he knows he should have woken up sooner to take care of the millions of things on his to do list. 

He curses as he stretches out his muscles and bones as he thinks about how much time he’s wasted this morning but he figures that he needed it or else his body wouldn’t have allowed him to sleep in so late. Coupon Thursdays, and the work week in general always leaves a heavy stress on Liam’s body and his muscles are wound tight and he can feel the tension that has accumulated throughout the work week rolling through his body.

Before Zayn he used to spend hours at the gym working loose every muscle in his body to keep himself fit and healthy. He used to work out in order to keep the stress at bay. The gym used to be Liam’s haven where he went to get rid of it all and forget about what was happening in his life but then Zayn was born and gym visits become an extinct activity of his past, everything but running. Liam couldn’t give up everything because he survived off physical activity of some kind, any kind.

When Zayn was old enough Liam went out and purchased one of the strollers that you can use when you’re running so your child can join you without actually having to participate. He runs Zayn around parks and around the outer edge of their town while Zayn usually stares up at him from the seat and waves to the people they pass by or, more often than not, he’ll fall back asleep and let Liam have his morning jog without any disturbances.

And this morning Liam knows he could use a run in order to loosen the tight knot in his shoulders. He throws the blankets off his body and crawls out of bed. He pulls on the pair of basketball shorts he finds in the bottom of his dresser and figures the white tee he wore to bed would suffice. He knows through the silence in the house that Zayn is probably still curled up in bed and will need Liam to wake him up or else he’ll sleep until lunch.

Liam slips into Zayn’s room and finds his son with his face buried into the pillow with an arm thrown over the back of his head, the other laid out along the mattress, with the blankets bunched up at his waist. He enters quietly and digs around in Zayn’s closet to grab a light jacket along with pair of socks and shoes that he can put on Zayn for their run. He gets Zayn dressed while the small boy is still sleeping and slowly coaxes Zayn awake. He rubs his son's stomach with one hand while stroking his cheek with the other.

“Zayn,” Liam murmurs as he continues the motions with his hands. “It’s time to wake up, sweetie.”

Zayn whines in his sleep and lifts up a hand to swat at Liam’s as he attempts to roll over and go back to sleep.

“Come on, babe. Daddy wants to go for a run. You can sleep in the stroller, yeah?”

Liam reaches out and carefully forces Zayn into a sitting position while Zayn lets out a loud yawn before crawling out of bed and making his way to the bathroom in order to relieve himself like Liam taught him to do when he first wakes up.

Liam doesn’t understand how someone who sleeps as much and as deep as Zayn can make it through the night without accidents at his age. It’s bound to happen and Liam knows that but he’s extremely grateful that for now it’s not an issue for them.

Zayn comes out of the bathroom and drops down on the floor in front of Liam and holds his foot in the air so Liam can slip a pair of shoes on them before he properly zips up the jacket Zayn’s wearing. He picks up his son and carries him out to the garage, where they keep the stroller, and buckles him inside. He wraps a blanket around Zayn and within five minutes he’s curled up and fast asleep before Liam has time to finish his stretches.

~~~

“Dada, what we do?”

Liam shoves the last of the dirty clothes in the washing machine and looks up to see Zayn standing in the door way with sleep matted hair, clutching his blanket in one hand, while he watches Liam.

“I don’t know,” Liam answers. “What would you like to do?”

Zayn shrugs his shoulders and allows Liam to pick up and carry him towards the living room. “I don’t know, Dada.”

“Do you want to play a game?” Zayn shakes his head. “Do you want to read a book?” Zayn shakes his head again as Liam drops down onto the couch and places Zayn in his lap. “Do you want to do a puzzle?”

“No, Dada, just lay here,” Zayn says as he demonstrates his words by crawling off Liam’s lap and resting head against the pillow and propping his little bare feet up in Liam’s lap. “Just lay here, Dada.”

“Do you want me to put a movie in?”

Zayn nods his head and lifts his feet up to allow Liam to stand up and put in the first DVD that he can find before he curls back up next to Zayn on the couch.

They lie together through the duration of the movie before Liam’s phone begins vibrating incessantly in his pocket. He pulls it out and notices that the caller ID reads ‘work’. He lets out a groan and presses the answer button.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Payne? It’s Lisa. We have a bit of a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Well I’m sure that it’s nothing but well the new kid is late for his shift and I need to leave so I can bring my daughter to her father’s house for the weekend. I know it’s your day off and I’d hate to bother you but I really need to leave and Margaret is the only other person here and last time we left her alone she kind of…”

“Knocked over the canned goods display,” Liam interrupts. “I remember. All right. I’ll be in shortly.”

Liam hangs up the phone and looks at his wide-eyed son and says, “Zayn, you’re going to go to grandma’s house for a few hours, yeah?”

“Okay, Dada.”

~~~

Liam jiggles the doorknob of his mother’s front door and finds that it’s locked, he lets out a groan and knocks on the door and waits for her to let him inside. He readjusts Zayn on his hip and continues to knock until the door swings open and reveals his mother, tired looking with her hair pulled back and an apron wrapped around her hips.

 

“Liam, what are you doing here?” She asks as he pulls the door open wider to let them both inside.

“Hi, Nana,” Zayn says as Liam sets him on the ground. “I brings toys, lots of toys.”

“The store called and I’ve got to run in and figure out what is going on. I can’t bring Zayn in because who knows how long I’ll be there so can he stay here?”

His mother sighs and nods her head. “Of course he can, Liam.”

“I’ll try not to be long. I’m sorry for coming unannounced. I’m trying to deal with the new hire and he’s a bit rowdy, hormones or something. It shouldn’t take me more than hour. Two at most, definitely not three.”

“Liam,” Karen replies with her hand held up as she shakes her head fondly. “It’s okay. He’ll be all right. You go and take care of what you need to do and we’ll be here when you’re done.”

Liam smiles gratefully and leans forward to press a kiss to his mother’s cheek before bending down to kiss Zayn. He says his goodbyes and promises Zayn that he’ll do something special for him in order to make up for the time lost together during their weekend.

~~~

Liam gets into work and finds Lisa gone, her aisle empty and register locked up, and replaced, two aisles over, is the curly haired attitude known as Harry that he recently hired. He sees him standing in front of the register wearing normal clothes with a green apron over it and his headphones in as he casually flips through a magazine, smacking his gum in the process.

Liam rolls his eyes and waves towards John, the custodial man, and makes his way over towards Harry.

“Harry,” Liam says as he knocks on the conveyor belt and waits for the teenager to notice his presence and to knock the headphones out of his ears. “Can I talk to you in my office?”

“What office?” Harry replies as he looks around the store. “This is a grocery store.”

“Just follow me into the back, yeah?”

Harry nods and sets his stuff down before following Liam in the back where the food is stored before being put on the shelves, in the freezers, and around the store. In the far back corner Liam has a wooden table set up with filing cabinets around it in a makeshift office where he can take care of everything he can get done at work instead of home.

He sits in his chair and instructs Harry to sit in the one on the opposite side of the table.

“Why were you late?”

“I don’t know,” Harry says with a shrug. “I was talking to my Dad about some stuff and I got distracted.”

Liam takes a deep breath. “Why aren’t you wearing the required uniform?”

“I’m wearing the apron,” Harry says as he points down towards the green canvas material draped over his band tee and skinny jeans. “That’s part of the required uniform. I don’t own a yellow shirt so I wore what I had. Also, you said to make sure I wear black pants and these are black pants.”

“Okay,” Liam starts as he tries not to snap at Harry. He hates working with teenagers and he absolutely hates working with the ones that have attitude problems and don’t understand the meaning of hard work. But not many people are lining up to work at a grocery store and sadly this is what he has to deal with. “Harry, I know that this is your first job but there are certain responsibilities that you need to understand come with having a job. For starters you need to start wearing the appropriate uniform. You are required to wear black pants. They don’t need to be fancy but they can’t be jeans. You’re required to wear a yellow polo shirt, at the very least a pale yellow t-shirt with no writing on it, along with black tennis shoes. I thought this was clear when you were hired.”

“These are black jeans, and I already told you that I don’t have yellow shirts. I wore what I could.”

“I know it’s none of my business but if your family is struggling then maybe I could figure out something and get you the appropriate clothing.”

“I’m not poor,” Harry all but shouts at Liam. “I just don’t own a yellow shirt.”

“Harry, I don’t understand,” Liam says as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “I know this is work and not school but I’m going to have to call your parents to discuss this with them. You’re still young and I think they need to be brought up to speed.”

“Parent,” Harry corrects. “I don’t have a mother.”

“I’m sorry,” Liam starts but interrupted by Harry saying, “don’t feel sorry for me.”

“I was going to say that I’m sorry for the assumption, and ask if could please give me your father’s number so that I can call him.”

Harry rolls his eyes and mutters a ‘whatever’ under his breath before reciting to Liam his father’s cell phone number.

“He’s at my brother’s soccer game so he probably won’t answer. He probably won’t answer anyway because he doesn’t know your number, and he hates talking to people.”

“I’ll leave a message then.”

“Knock yourself out. Can I go back to work now?”

Liam nods and watches Harry go before dropping his head down on the surface of the wooden table and letting out a deep, tired breath.


	3. Chapter 3

Louis works four-hour shifts everyday at the preschool down the street from his house. He goes in every morning after dropping Niall and Harry off at school, and leaves before the afternoon kids come in. It’s not his dream job but he loves the children that he’s met and the way he gets to watch them learn and grow before sending them off to kindergarten. Plus, working at the preschool reminds him everyday that he doesn’t want any more children. Louis had thought for a long time that he was going to turn into an octodad and adopt a slew of kids and live alone with enough kids to create his own soccer team. Well not that many but he always thought he’d want to have four or five. He’s happy that he took the job at the preschool to get the absurd thoughts out of his mind that he’d need more than Harry and Niall. 

But Louis’ real passion is what he does when he gets home from working at the preschool. Louis runs his own website where he sells what people describe as crafts. He likes to knit and crochet blankets, hats, and scarves and what not. He just likes making things and knowing that people out in the world are wearing them and using them because they thought that they were worthy enough of being bought. He picked it up when his mother used to do it and taught him when he was younger and he was never able to drop the hobby. Plus it gives him things to do in his spare time when he’s home alone from work and not doing one of the endless amounts of chores that he has to complete like laundry or dishes or keeping the house clean because Harry and Niall would never. 

Louis is sat on the couch now with a new skein of yarn and his knitting needles as he tries to ignore the sound of his kids arguing from the other end of the house. He can’t make out what they’re saying but he can hear that their voices are raised to a volume that means Harry has done something to make Niall angry. 

He turns the volume up on the television and pretends that he can’t hear the shrill voices but pretending never gets him anywhere because as soon as he sets the remote down Niall is standing in front of him with his arms crossed over his chest. His face is flushed and his cheeks are bright red from anger. 

“What happened?” Louis asks as he sets his knitting aside to give Niall his full attention. 

“Harry is a jerk,” Niall shouts as he looks down the hallway, no doubt trying to make sure that Harry hears the statement. “He came in my room and started throwing stuff around. I just cleaned it yesterday so I could go to Sean’s house. He’s trying to get me grounded.”

“Are you really telling on me?” Louis glances behind him and sees Harry leaning against the doorway that leads to the living room. “You’re going to tell Dad that I threw around some of your shirts looking for mine.“

“I wouldn’t take your shirt,” Niall shouts back. “You dress like you’re homeless and you probably bought that from the girls section anyway like you do with your pants.”

“You’re such an idiot,” Harry says back with a laugh. 

“You’re the idiot,” Niall retorts. “All my friends think you’re my older sister because you wear girl pants and won’t get a hair cut.”

“Enough,” Louis interjects. “You’re both done. Niall, Harry is going to clean your room for you since he messed it up. Harry, you’re going to go to work and leave your brother alone. If you think he stole something then ask me, don’t wind him up.”

“It’s funny,” Harry says with a smirk. “He takes things so seriously.”

Louis has to jump off the couch because as soon as the words leave Harry’s mouth Niall is trying to dive across the room in an attempt to hit Harry. Louis wraps his arms around his youngest son and holds him still until the blonde stops fighting against him and stops growling at Harry. 

“Go to room, Niall,” Louis says once Niall has finally calmed down. 

Niall shoves himself out of Louis’ arms and stomps past Harry towards his bedroom. He slams his bedroom door closed and Harry lets out a snort as he shakes the hair from his eyes. 

“Harry, why do you have to wind him up? You’re five years older than him. Don’t you think that you could be a little nicer to him, sometimes at the very least.”

“Why are you always on his side?” Harry asks as he slips on his shoes. 

“I’m not on anyone’s side but he’s upset.”

“All I did was try to find my shirt, and I did find it, shoved in the back of his closet. He takes my stuff and you do nothing about it.”

“It’s not about the shirt. If he took it then tell me, but he’s upset because you skipped his soccer game last night, and he has another one tonight that you’re not going to come to. You’re his older brother and he wants you there. He looks up to you and he wants to impress you.”

“If he wants to impress me then he can start by not ratting me out every time I breathe.”

Louis sighs and shakes his head. “He’s ten years old. You’re fifteen. Pick your battles with him, Harry.”

“Amazing advice,” Harry replies. “Now are we done here because I’m late for work and you’re going to get me in trouble.”

Harry doesn’t wait for Louis to answer before he’s running out the front door. Louis shakes his head because he’s definitely going to have to deal with this later but for now he needs to go and check on Niall. 

When he opens Niall’s bedroom door he sees him lying in bed, face down and arms crossed under his head. Louis slips in quietly and carefully steps around all the clothes on the floor that Harry must have thrown around, which Louis has to admit he can’t blame Niall for getting angry because this room is now a disaster. He sits down on the bed next to Niall and waits patiently because Niall will talk; it’s just a matter of waiting for it.

It only takes two minutes before Niall is huffing out a breath. “He’s such a jerk now. He used to be nicer. He used to like me,” Niall whines as he rolls over to look up at Louis. “He hates me and he’s always being mean.” 

Niall’s eyes are rimmed red and his cheeks are flushed red, this time from sadness instead of anger. Louis smiles at him sadly and reaches out so he can rub Niall’s stomach in a comforting way. “He doesn’t hate you. Harry is just going through a lot right now. I don’t know what but he’s still your brother and he still loves you. He’s just going through a funk.”

“I just want him to come to my games.”

“He’ll come. I’ll talk to him.”

“I don’t want you to make him come. I want him to want to come.”

“Niall, I’ll talk to him. Harry doesn’t do anything he doesn’t want to do. You know that. Let’s just get ready for your game. I’ll be there and I’m a pretty good cheer leader, right?” Louis asks with a smile. 

Niall rolls his eyes and sits up. “You’re okay.”

~~~ 

Louis is lined up along the sidelines of the field with the other parents and family members that have made it out for the soccer game. It’s mostly small children chasing around balls off behind the bleachers or at the end of the field running around the playground. There is an array of mothers cheering for their children and yelling at the kids not on the team to be careful and to remain in sight. Louis isn’t the only father there but all the other men came with women and children where as Louis came with Niall and a water bottle. 

He loves coming to the games and being able to witness his son doing something that he loves and doing something that brings him pure happiness but it’s a steady reminder that Louis is alone in every aspect of parenting. And he knows that he doesn’t need another person in his life in order to be a parent and to get the job done right. He knows this. He knows it because he’s been living this life for fifteen years and both of his children have turned out perfectly lovely. 

It’s not like it matters anyway because half the couples here are ignoring each other and Louis thinks that it’s probably better he doesn’t have to worry about another person, not when he has Niall running down the field with the ball dribbling between his feet. 

He screams and cheers for Niall as his son kicks the ball straight into the goal. Luckily Niall hasn’t started to get embarrassed about how loud Louis cheers for him or how frequently it happens because Louis is loud. And most especially when Niall is the one leading the time towards victory. He only wishes that Harry were here to see his little brother’s goal because no matter how happy Niall gets with himself, he’s never fully happy until Harry is there to share it with him.

Louis is in the middle of shouting his praises when his phone begins ringing, loud and shrill inside his pocket. He pulls it out and stares at the unknown number calling his phone, debating on whether or not to answer it. He decides to answer, pressing the green button and bringing the phone up to his ear, “Hello?”

“Um, yes, hi. Is this Mister…?”

“No,” Louis replies as he interrupts the caller. 

“No?”

“This is Louis. I’m not Mister anything. But I guess if you absolutely have to then I can be Mr. Tomlinson although I’d rather not.”

“Okay, sorry,” the caller replies. “This is Liam Payne, Harry’s boss.”

“Oh, hi,” Louis replies back enthusiastically. “Harry is at work right now, but wait…shouldn’t you know that? Is he okay? Wait, how did you get my number?”

“Right, yeah—you’re right, he is here, and he’s fine. He gave me your number because…I don’t know how to say it, but your son is rather difficult,” Liam says carefully. “I’ve been having some problems with him and he’s only sixteen and the high school really likes for me to contact them about Harry’s progress because if his grades slip or if I think he’s struggling then he can’t work here anymore. I don’t want to remove him because that’s not fair to him and hiring new people isn’t my favorite thing, and I was just wondering if maybe you could come down here and talk.”

Louis sighs. “Yeah, yeah. I guess I’ll be down there shortly.”

~~~ 

Louis enters the grocery store and sees Harry, standing behind a register reading a magazine, and since no one is lining up to get checked out Louis figures he can go, and visit his son before he has to meet his boss. He strides over towards Harry and bops his son on the head and flashes him a wicked smile when Harry glances up at him. 

“What are you doing here?” Harry asks. 

“Your boss called,” Louis explains. “Care to tell me why I’m here?”

“He actually called you?” Harry asks, looking completely surprised. “I told him you wouldn’t answer and that you wouldn’t talk to him. Why would he do that?”

“Apparently you’re difficult.”

“I am not,” Harry replies. “He’s making demands that aren’t reasonable. He’s out of his mind. Dad, honestly, he’s crazy. Mr. Payne is a complete nut job.”

“I’ll be the judge of that. Now where can I find him?”

Harry turns around and points towards a man with mousy hair and muscular arms, wearing blue jeans and a white shirt that is simply sinful. 

“That’s him?” Louis asks he straightens out his shirt and runs his fingers through his hair. Harry nods and eyes his father skeptically. “He’s gorgeous.”

“Ew. Are you crazy? Dad, that’s my boss.”

Louis ignores his son’s comment and continues watching the man several feet away and the way his arms flex when he moves them. Louis mouth goes dry as he stares at the other boy who has turned his attention towards them. He looks back and forth between Harry and Louis before nodding to himself and walking over towards them. 

“He’s coming over here,” Louis whispers.

“It’s not too late to run out the door,” Harry replies. 

“Harry, be quiet,” Louis says under his breath as the man stops in front of them.

“Mr. Tomlinson? I’m Liam, Liam Payne, Harry’s boss. We spoke on the phone earlier,” Liam says as he extends a hand out in front of him.

Louis stares at the hand in awe before reaching out tentatively and shaking Liam’s hand. Liam’s grip is firm and warm and Louis can feel it throughout his entire body. He can’t help but stare up at Liam with wide us because Liam is smiling and his eyes have completely disappeared behind adorable little crinkles that form around his eyes. Louis smiles widely at the sight and turns to look at Harry who is glaring at him in anger. 

Louis doesn’t get a chance to think about it because Liam is asking him to follow him towards his office so they can talk about Harry and the reason for his call.


	4. Chapter 4

Liam pushes the door open and guides Harry’s father back towards the desk in the corner. He points towards the chair on the opposite that Harry sat in earlier and takes his own seat on the other side. He looks up, pulling his chair with him, and sees Harry’s father, Louis, smiling up at him as he leans against the desk. Louis has one hand under his head and he’s blinking up at Liam in rapid succession. He has an odd smile on his face and Liam doesn’t know what to make of the other man.

“Are you—um—do you need eye drops?” Liam asks. 

Louis only looks confused for a second before shaking his head. “No, my eyes are fine.” He removes himself from Liam’s desk and leans back into the chair and says, “So about Harry.”

“Yeah, Harry, well the thing is I wouldn’t normally call you, but because of his age the school wants reports and updates on how he’s doing because he’s not of legal working age and he’s here with the schools permission. Well he won’t wear the right uniform and I don’t mind how he does leisure activities while the costumers aren’t around, that’s not a problem, but well forgive me for saying this but your son’s attitude is horrible.”

“Absolutely horrible,” Louis agrees. “I don’t know where it came from. I can talk to him about it. I don’t know how much good it will do.”

Liam breathes a sigh of relief that Harry’s father understands Liam’s struggles with him. Most parents tend to get defensive and start shouting at Liam for insulting their kid. Louis is the first parent who can admit that his child an attitude or any kind of problem.

“I just need him to wear the uniform and to try and not be so difficult. I don’t want him to be miserable here. He’s a good kid and I wouldn’t have hired him if I didn’t think he was capable of doing the job.”

Louis nods in understanding and smiles brightly up at Liam. “You’re right, he’s the best kid. He wouldn’t be my son if he weren’t. He’s amazing and I swear to you that he’s not always like this. He’s going through a phase but I’ll talk to him.”

“Thank you,” Liam says with a sigh. He feels a weight lifted off his shoulders knowing that Harry’s father is going to talk to him and that there will be an outside source helping Liam with his quest to get Harry to understand the work place better. He’s only fifteen and this is his very first job and he hopes that Harry knows Liam isn’t doing this to be an asshole, that he really wants Harry to succeed in the job. 

Louis is still smiling up at Liam and he’s beginning to feel uncomfortable. He squirms slightly in his seat as he watches Louis’ eyes trail across his body, disguising it as looking around Liam’s office. Louis gasps and jumps forward snatching a photograph off the top of Liam’s desk. It’s a picture of Zayn; Liam only has pictures of Zayn. 

“Who is this?” Louis asks as he flips the frame around towards Liam. 

“That’s my son, Zayn,” Liam replies as he smiles down at the picture of Zayn sitting in his car seat with his first held in the air and his leg kicked out over the side with a wide, toothless smile on his face. It’s not a recent picture but it’s one of his favorites to have in the office because even on the worst of days he looks at it and his son’s sheer happiness in the photograph lifts his spirits. 

“He’s beautiful,” Louis says as he begins turning around the other frames. He stops when he reaches a picture of Liam’s sisters holding a two-year-old Zayn in their laps as he stares at something out of the frame. “Are one of these the mother?”

Liam is thrown off by the annoyance he hears in Louis’ voice. He shakes his head carefully, watching as Louis’ features brighten. “My sisters actually.”

“Perfect,” Louis states, still looking at the picture in his hand. He carefully sets it back down on the desk and smiles at Liam once again. “Listen, I’ve got to get back home because well Niall is there alone and you really can’t leave him home alone for longer than hour before he starts getting freaked out, but I think we should exchange numbers.”

“We should what?”

“Exchange numbers,” Louis says slowly incase Liam missed it the first time. “I mean you know my number but you called from work so obviously I don’t know yours and what if I wanted to talk to you about problems that were happening with Harry I don’t want to have to call the...well I don’t know who I’d have to call but I don’t want to call them. I want to call you.”

Liam opens his mouth but closes it promptly to look at Louis for a moment. He’s a bit on the shorter side with a pleasantly curvy body for a male. Liam would be lying if he said that he wasn’t attractive, what with his chestnut hair and blue-green eyes, his cheekbones and Liam isn’t going to look down at his thighs because he doesn’t need to worry about the thighs of someone whose kid he’s employed. Liam isn’t blind, Louis is attractive but Liam isn’t attracted to him, and he hopes that Louis isn’t thinking of Liam in any other way than being Harry’s boss. 

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,” Liam says. 

Louis rolls his eyes, and says, “It’s to talk about Harry, Liam.”

Liam instantly feels stupid for having thought that Louis would want his number for any kind of ulterior motives. 

“Yeah, Harry, okay. I called you on my cell phone so you already have my number. It’s my personal number and not the store number so nobody else should answer it unless Zayn gets to it. He’s figured out how to answer it a few times,” Liam says, still feeling stupid at having thought ill of Louis. 

Louis’ eyes twinkle a bit at the information before he smiles and stands up from his chair. “Well we’ll be talking soon I’m sure,” Louis says as Liam stands up as well to lead the other boy out of his office. 

When he pulls the door open and makes room for Louis to exit he doesn’t miss the way that the other boy’s hand drags across his waist. 

~~~ 

“Dada, I broke it.”

Liam looks up from his book to see Zayn standing in front of him, wide smile, and holding out one of his toy cars that’s missing a wheel. 

“What happened?” Liam asks as he dog ears the page and sets the book down on the arm of the chair. 

“I was driving and I broke it.” He unfolds his curled fist and shows Liam the wheel that fell off. He hands them over to Liam and leans against the front of the chair, pulling his hand up under his chin as Liam figures out how to fix it. 

The toy doesn’t hold any sentimental value to either of them but Liam hates throwing toys away. He hates throwing anything away that Zayn has ever used. He has a box in the attic of infant toys that his son has outgrown along with boxes upon boxes of Zayn’s newborn clothing along with his infant clothes. The attic is a montage of Zayn’s life through discarded toys and clothing. Toy cars have no place up there and Liam doesn’t have the slightest clue as to how he can even begin to put the wheel back on. 

“I don’t know if Daddy can fix this, buddy.” He looks down on the floor and sees a pile of other cars so he doesn’t feel too bad at the thought of having to throw one away. 

“That’s okay,” Zayn says as he crawls into the chair and situates himself between the armrest and Liam. “I want to read.”

Liam looks down at the book on the arm rest and knows that Zayn wouldn’t have any interest in listening to him read that book so instead he stands up from the chair and tries to find a children’s book from Zayn’s section of the shelves. He settles on The Rainbow Fish, pulling it off the shelf and going to sit back down next to Zayn. 

Zayn grabs the book from his father and waits for him to sit down so he place it across both their laps. Zayn settles against Liam’s side, sticking his thumb in his mouth and waiting patiently for Liam to begin reading. 

They read book together, Liam reading the actual words on the pages and Zayn giving his insight on what’s happening through the pictures as he turns to the next page. 

~~~ 

“Zaynie, you have to put clothes on for bed,” Liam says as he stands in the entrance to Zayn’s room, holding a pair of pajamas and a diaper. 

Zayn shakes his head and crawls into his bed, ignoring Liam completely. 

“Zayn if you don’t want to wear pajamas that’s fine, but you need a diaper otherwise you’ll wake up and your bed will be wet again. Do you want that to happen?”

“I used the potty,” Zayn explains as he curls his legs under his body. “I don’t need diaper.”

“I know you did,” Liam says, stepping into the room, and making his way towards Zayn. “And I’m so proud of you for using the potty but you sleep so much and don’t wake up when you need to go so that’s why you have to wear a diaper. You can’t sleep naked.”

“Like naked,” Zayn mumbles as he allows Liam to put him in a diaper. 

Liam nods his head and fixes the tabs on the diaper before dressing Zayn in dark blue onesie to keep him warm. He’s working Zayn’s foot in the built in socks when his phone begins beeping in his back pocket. He ignores it and chooses to continue dressing his son. He gets Zayn into the outfit and carefully zips it up, listening as his phone continues beeping in his pocket. 

“Is that Nana?” Zayn asks as he stares up at Liam with wide hazel eyes. 

“I don’t know who it is,” Liam admits as he pulls back Zayn’s blankets. 

“What Nana want?” Zayn asks as Liam’s phone beeps yet again. “Are you in trouble?”

Liam laughs, leaning down to kiss the top of Zayn’s head. “I’m not in trouble. It’s probably someone from work or maybe it’s Nana saying she wants to see you again.”

Zayn nods his head and begins maneuvering under the blankets. While Zayn is crawling under the covers Liam pulls out his phone and sees that he only has four texts, surprising given the amount of times his phone has gone off, and all from an unsaved number. He unlocks his phone and it immediately sends him to the new messages. 

**I talked to Harry and after work we went out and bought him the right uniform.**

**I even bought him three of each so he can’t claim to not have any. Luckily, it’s yellow and Niall isn’t a fan of yellow so he can’t accuse his brother of stealing it if it goes “missing”.**

**OH! This is Louis, by the way...Harry’s father if you haven’t figured that out. :) (Harry is one of your employees, by the way, incase you forget about work when you get home or something.)**

**We should get dinner.**

Liam reads the messages and shakes his head, standing up and making his way out of his son’s room.

“Dada, no,” Zayn says when Liam tries to shut the door behind him. Liam curses himself and locks his phone, sticking it back in his pocket, and goes back towards Zayn. He tucks him in properly, wrapping him tightly in the blankets, let’s Zayn give him a kiss before he flicks on the night light next to Zayn’s bed. He checks to make sure that everything is in order. He grabs Zayn’s stuffed animal and shoves it under the blankets, Zayn leans over and rests his head on the animal, closing his eyes immediately. 

Liam leans down and gives Zayn one more kiss before finally making his way out of his son’s room and back towards the living room to finish his book. 

Liam’s phone beeps again and he can tell that this Louis’ guy is going to be a problem.


	5. Chapter 5

Liam frowns as he watches Harry’s father make his second trip around the store. He’s standing behind the two-way mirror next to the entrance so he can watch employees and customers without being seen. No one ever really knows if he’s in there or not, and usually he doesn’t like to use the room because it feels like an invasion of privacy to be able to watch over people who don’t know that they’re being watched. It’s weird and it creeps him out to know that he’s using it. But lately he finds himself spending more and more time inside of it. 

It all started a week ago when Louis had begun coming in every day and spending nearly an hour inside the store, walking around and examining every square inch of the building. Liam thinks that Louis might know the store better than most, if not all, of his employees. Louis had come in under the claim that he needed groceries anyway so why not stop by to make sure that Harry was doing his job right. And Liam would have believed him…only Louis kept coming back and wouldn’t stop coming back. Liam doesn’t like to believe that people have ulterior motives but he can’t help but think Louis doesn’t need as much food as he buys. 

He questioned Louis on it once and Louis had merely giggled and held onto Liam’s forearm as he said, “Liam, who could resist.” Liam still isn’t sure if Louis was referring to him or the sales that Louis seemed to always be examining. 

As long as Louis wasn’t hurting or scaring anyone then Liam was perfectly okay with seeing the brunette walking around his store an hour everyday, which is exactly why he’s standing behind the two-way mirror watching as Louis buys everything he put in his cart today. He waits until he sees him leaving, doing a funny hand gesture to Harry before Liam steps out of the office. It’s five minutes until Harry’s shift is set to end. 

“Harry before you go could I have a word with you?”

Harry turns away from his register and looks at Liam, bored. “I guess.”

Liam motions for Harry to step inside the little room he’s been hiding in for half an hour. As soon as the lanky teenager is inside the office he closes the door and motions for Harry to take a seat. 

“I was wondering if I could ask you something, and I hope it doesn’t come off the wrong way, but is there a reason your father spends so much time in the store?”

Harry lets out a snort and rolls his eyes at Liam. “I didn’t think you were stupid when it came to stuff like this. Why do you think my Dad texts you thirty times a day?”

“He’s very friendly,” Liam says carefully. “Most of his texts are talking about you but there is the occasionally odd ball where he throws in random facts about himself.”

“Or the ones where he acts you to dinner and you stop talking to him for the day.”

“Oh,” Liam says, swallowing thickly. “I didn’t know you knew about that.”

“Yeah,” Harry says. “My father is anything but subtle and doesn’t know how to keep things to himself. He’s out of his mind in every single way possible but he means well, I suppose.” 

“He seems great, but that still doesn’t answer my question about why he’s always here. I don’t mind the texting. I’ve gotten used to it, but now he’s always at work too.” 

“Oh god, Mr. Payne, please don’t make me answer this. My shift is over and my Dad is waiting out in the car for me because he insists on driving me home,” Harry says with a loud groan. 

“No, no you’re right,” Liam agrees. “I shouldn’t have you put you on the spot like that. I’m sorry. You can go.” Liam points to the door and slumps down in the chair across the room, holding his face in his hands and hoping that Harry won’t tell Louis about this incident. The last thing he needs is the other boy blowing his phone up even more about all this. 

“I’m only going to say this once and you can figure out what it means. My Dad isn’t going to stop any of this until he gets what he wants. So instead of ignoring him and playing hard to get or whatever it is you think you’re doing, maybe you could, you know, give him what he wants.” 

With that said Harry is slipping out of the surveillance room, leaving a confused Liam in his wake. 

~~~~~ 

Louis checks himself out in the window of the store, fixing his hair and smoothing out the surface of his t-shirt. He shifts his body around, trying to see it from all angles and smiles in satisfaction when he sees everything is up to par. Louis grabs one of the carts on his way inside the store, trying to make himself look like he’s not only here to catch Liam’s attention but he’s also here to find food. 

Louis enters, walking past Harry’s register with a small wave before he goes about his shopping. Louis has developed a system for his supermarket visits. He walks around the perimeter of the aisles, browsing and seeing what they have in stock, and then when he reaches the place he started does he enter the aisles and look for the things he’s needs. After he’s done with every aisle does he do a perimeter walk again so that he can buy the items he had spotted on his first walk. So far this system has proven that he gets to see Harry a total of seventeen times, and Liam a total of five. 

“Dad!”

Louis turns, and sees Harry briskly walking towards him, a frown on his face. “Is everything okay?”

“No,” Harry says when he’s fully in front of Louis. “You’re stalking Mr. Payne again. I told you to stop coming by every single day because you’re going to freak him out, and I don’t want you here stalking my manager.”

“Excuse me, Harry, I just so happen to love coming to the supermarket and making food purchases or checking out the sales. Plus I need to pop in every   
now and again to make sure you’re not being defiant at work anymore,” Louis says, tossing some noodles into his cart. “Your track record has not been the best and I’ve been waiting for Liam to tell me improvements in your behavior.”

“Mr. Payne is an idiot, of course he’s not going to text you and tell you anything. I told him to leave it alone.”

“Harry, you don’t control your boss or me, your father, and I’m tired of your attitude. Go back to your lane and stand at your register while I find us food for dinner unless of course you don’t want to eat tonight,” Louis says, staring at his son, his expression hard. 

“Whatever. You’re annoying,” Harry says, turning his back on Louis and stomping back towards his register. 

Louis sighs, shaking his head and goes back to doing his shopping. He threw noodles in his cart and now his entire system is messed up. He’s not supposed to grab anything until he’s walked around, full circle, once. 

He feels annoyed and slightly on edge as he makes his way around the store. He thinks bitterly on how his son had called him a stalker. He knows Harry isn’t happy about his interest in Liam, but it’s not like he can control something like this. Liam is fit and beautiful and wonderful in every way Louis can imagine, which is why is upsets him, only slightly, to know that he’s already in aisle five and he hasn’t bumped into Liam once. 

It changes though when he makes it three aisles over and hears the sound of a familiar voice saying, “Um, Mr. Tom—Louis?”

Louis jumps at the sound of the voice, nearly dropping the box of cereal in his hands, it fumbles around and he has to clutch it to his chest to prevent it from landing on the floor. He turns in time to see Liam standing behind him with a concerned expression. “Jesus, Liam. Why would you scare somebody like that?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to,” Liam says, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

Louis stops to admire him from up close. It’s totally different seeing Liam from far away and admiring the larger, more obvious qualities of the boy. Like his biceps or cute little butt or the way his hair sweeps up and off to the side. There are many things about Liam that Louis likes but up close…that’s Louis’ favorite. He can see the way the light dances across Liam’s eyes, and how he has a birthmark on the front of his neck. He has a faint freckle on his lower right cheek, at the base of his smile lines, and how his lips are slightly chapped. Louis wants to feel them pressed against his own to find out just how chapped they really are. But he can wait. He’s a man of many things and waiting for cute boys like Liam is one of his specialties. Or so he likes to think so. 

“Why were sneaking up on me?” Louis asks, still holding onto the box of cereal. 

“I don’t…well I’m not really sure. No, that’s—I lied. You’ve been coming to the store a lot and I think maybe I know why.”

“You do?” 

“I have an idea, but I’m not sure because I talked to Harry and I think I might have figured out what is going on.”

“Mhm, and what did my son tell you?” Louis asks, putting one hand on his hip and staring up at Liam, waiting to hear what he and his son talked about.”

“If I agree to go to dinner with you will you stop pacing the store all day? I, we talked about how maybe you were waiting for me to answer you since I never told you yes or no about dinner. Well we didn’t really talk about it because Harry left me a cryptic message and I don’t think you need all this food. Do you?” 

Louis looks up at Liam in mock offense at the words. “Liam, I am here trying to feed my family and make sure that Harry isn’t acting up. And you have the nerve to question me? I feel insulted.”

Liam’s face falls, his mouth turning into a frown to make the slump in his shoulders. He rubs his hands against his black pants and stutters around words. Louis finds it adorable. “I didn’t mean—I just—You’re here a lot—Harry said—I hadn’t meant.” Liam stops talking with a huff and looks at Louis with a nervous, guilty smile. 

“Well I’m sure you didn’t mean to insult me so I’ll take you up on your offer for dinner. You’re paying though,” Louis says, still feigning hurt at Liam’s accusations. 

“Wouldn’t that make it a date?” Liam asks, confused. 

“I don’t know, Liam. Is there something wrong with that?” Louis asks, and he decidedly does not stomp his foot on the floor, or let his pout show too much. “Is it because you think I’m a stalker?”

“No,” Liam says, practically shouting. “No, it’s fine. I don’t mind a date. It’s fine. I’ll pay.”

“So tonight?” Louis says, batting his eyelashes and leaning into Liam’s personal space. 

Liam bites his lip. “I mean it’s a bit short notice, don’t you think? I need to find someone to babysit my son and—“ 

“Harry can do it,” Louis says in earnest. “Harry loves children.”

“Harry?” Liam says, his nerves showing through at the idea of leaving Harry in charge of his son. “I don’t know about that. I can talk to my mother. It’s Tuesday and she usually goes out with her friends from Church on Tuesday and I’m sure your kids have homework or something so what about Friday?”

“What about tonight?”

“I have no one to watch Zayn.”

“Harry will do it,” Louis repeats. “He’s really wonderful with kids. He loves them; it’s everyone else that he doesn’t like. He won’t let anything happen to Zayn. I promise.” 

“Are—are you sure? I don’t want to force him into it or anything. I’m sure I can call up some friends and see if any of them could take him for a couple hours.” 

“Nonsense, it’s completely fine. Don’t call anyone else,” Louis says waving his hands in the air. “Harry will watch your son, and you can pick me up at seven. Is seven all right?” 

“Yeah that’s fine,” Liam says, nodding his head in agreement. 

“Perfect,” Louis say, shoving the box of cereal back onto the shelf. “I’ll text you our address later, or you can just ask Harry for it. Or both. Let’s do both to make sure you get it okay?”

Liam nods his head when Louis smiles up at him. He waits a beat for he makes his way past Liam so he can head to his car to head home and begin getting ready for their date. It’s four hours before they’re supposed to meet up but Louis wants to make sure he looks perfect. 

“Louis, wait,” Liam calls. Louis turns around and sees Liam pointing towards the cart he left, half full, and sitting in the middle of the aisle. “Are you forgetting something?”

“I don’t need it,” Louis says, shrugging his shoulders. “You’re taking me out to dinner.”

“Won’t the kids need something to eat?”

“Liam, do you know how much food I have at home now from coming to this place everyday? They have enough food to last them a while. They could make fifteen dinners before we even finish our one.”

“Right,” Liam says slowly, nodding his head. “Well I’ll see you at seven.”

Perfect, Louis thinks as he makes his way out of the store and towards his car.


	6. Chapter 6

Louis scans his wardrobe, wondering which outfit he’s going to wear for his date with Liam. He filters through outfits, trying on different pants and shirts but nothing feels good enough for tonight. All of his pants don't fit right, and his shirts are too worn and he thinks Liam has probably already seen them in everything anyway. He thinks briefly that maybe he shouldn’t have went the grocery store every day so he could have surprised Liam with something to wear, because going through his clothes now he realizes that everything he wears is going to be an outfit that he connects to his store. 

He sighs, realizing that he has no idea what to wear tonight. 

“Harry,” Louis hollers. “Can you please come and help me?”

Louis hears a groan followed by muffled curses before his son’s head peeks into his bedroom. 

“What do you want?” Harry asks. 

“I need help picking out an outfit. I, um, think Liam might have seen all of these before. Can I wear something of yours?”

Harry snorts and rolls his eyes. “You’re too old to wear my clothes. Mr. Payne will think you’re trying too hard if you show up wearing the same thing as all the teenagers that come in after school. You do know he sees teens, right?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Louis says, chewing on his bottom lip. “Well will you help me pick out an outfit?”

Harry steps forward, gently pushing Louis out of the way so he can get a better view of his father’s clothes. He grabs a pair of dark jeans, almost black in color, and a plain white shirt, tossing them onto the bed. He grabs a white cable knit sweater from the back along with a jean jacket, tossing them in the way he did the white shirt and jeans. 

“You can either wear the sweater or the shirt and jacket. I think you should do the shirt and jacket. And just wear your usual shoes, but try and wear socks.”

“What kind of socks?” Louis asks. 

“Normal socks, Dad. No one will care about your socks. Mr. Payne won’t even look at your socks,” Harry says, shaking his head at his father. 

“What are you doing?”

Louis turns around and sees Niall standing in the doorway, shifting his gaze between Harry and Louis. 

“Oh good, my baby,” Louis says, motioning for Niall to enter the room. “We’re picking out an outfit for me. I need you to help. What do you think of these two options?”

Niall steps forward, looking at the clothes laid out on the bed. “Which outfit did Harry like?” Niall asks, looking up at his father. 

“He said the white shirt and jacket.”

“Oh,” Niall says, nodding his head slowly, turning his gaze back towards the clothes. “I think you should wear the one with the jean jacket. It looks nice on you.”

“Stay out here while I get dressed,” Louis says, taking the clothes with him into the bathroom. It only takes him a few minutes to get ready into his full outfit. He checks himself out in the mirror, fixing the hairs on his head that were messed up when he pulled the shirt over his head. He’s satisfied with how he looks, and feels pride at the fact his sons had made sure he looked good for his date. 

It feels a bit surreal putting on the outfit for his date. He’s spent the last few hours pinching himself to make sure that this is actually happening. It’s been so long since he went out with someone, and even longer since he went out with someone that he thinks won’t turn out to be an asshole, or someone that his children will like. 

He hasn’t been with anyone since Mike, the electrician who turned out to hate children and yelled at Harry for knocking over his drink in his kitchen, breaking one of his glass cups. It was stupid and Louis was outraged that his ‘boyfriend’ would scream at his son. Before that he dated Clyde who was a workaholic and told Louis he just simply didn’t have any time for him, and that he wasn’t really into ‘playing daddy’ and didn’t want to get involved with someone with children. He also dated Jack, the one who stole money from Niall’s piggy bank when he seven, because he was apparently suffering from a drug addiction. Those are just a few, there was also Adam, and Brian, and Greg, and Marcus. Louis has never had any luck when it had come to dating. 

But Liam…Louis thinks that Liam might be the one to break his bad track record. Liam, Louis hopes, won’t turn out like the rest of them. 

He exits the bathroom, doing a little twirl for his sons. “I look great, thank you both. Liam should be here soon. Harry, he’s going to be bringing his son over and you’re going to watch him while we’re gone.”

“I’m not watching his kid,” Harry says. “I had plans.”

“Well I just cancelled your other plans and gave you new ones, didn’t I?” Louis says with a smirk. “I promised him that you’d watch his son and that you’re great with kids. Please don’t ruin this for me.” 

“He ruins everything,” Niall says, glaring at Harry. 

“Niall, please not tonight, okay?”

“Okay, I’m sorry, Dad,” Niall says, pulling himself onto Louis’ bed. “You look nice. I think your date will like the way you look tonight.”

“Thank you, Niall. And Harry, he’s really young and he won’t be a bother so can you just please do this for me? I promise you can go out tomorrow night, but not tonight, okay?”

“Fine,” Harry mutters, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Thank you,” Louis says, smiling gratefully. “Now, I wanted to ask you something. And I want you to be honest with me, all right? Are you two okay with me going on this date?”

“I don’t care,” Niall says, shrugging his shoulders. “Is he nice?”

“He’s very nice, I promise. I think you’ll like him,” Louis says. “Harry, do you care that I’m going on this date tonight?”

Harry’s quiet at first, staring at the wall next to Louis’ head instead of looking at him. Louis watches as his son’s eyebrows furrow slightly, and his gaze begins to get intense as he thinks about his answer. 

“Harry?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Harry mumbles. 

“It matters to me,” Louis says. 

“Just go on your date, and have fun, okay?” Harry says. “But don’t come crying to me when it doesn’t work out, okay? Because I don’t want to hear it this time around so just don’t tell me if it’s awful.” 

The sound of someone knocking on their front door prevents Louis from being able to reply properly. He lets out a heavy sigh, stepping forward so he’s in front of Harry. He wraps his hand around Harry’s head, pulling his face close so he can kiss him on the forehead. He holds his lips against his son’s forehead, trying not to let Harry’s words affect him, because Harry has always been against Louis dating, ever since he was a little boy and gained the ability to vocalize his opinion. 

“I’ll go answer the door,” Louis says, stepping away from Harry. He brushes his hand across Niall’s shoulder as he makes his way out of the room. He turns the corner and hears Niall say,

“Why do you always have to make him sad?”

~~~~~ 

The door swings open with Liam’s fist raised in the air, ready to knock again, and reveals Louis, dressed simply. Liam pulls Zayn up higher on his hip and smiles. “I hope I’m not early.”

“You could never be early,” Louis says, motioning for him to come inside. “This must be your son.”

“Yeah, this is Zayn. Zaynie, can you say hello?”

Zayn sticks his head in Liam’s neck, waving his little fingers in Louis direction and mumbling a quiet, “hi.”

“Hi sweetheart, I’m Louis. He’s adorable. He looks just like you.”

“No he doesn’t,” Liam says with a light laugh. “But I appreciate the lie.” 

“You’re both adorable,” Louis says, shrugging his shoulders. “He had to have gotten it somewhere.” 

“Oh…that’s, um, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, now follow me so you can meet Niall, my youngest, and my boys can meet your boy.”

Liam follows Louis, it’s a just into the other room but Liam takes extra precautions not to look at Louis’ backside and the way it moves when he walks. It’d be disrespectful and inappropriate, especially since he’s holding Zayn in his arms. 

“Liam, this is my son, Niall, and of course Harry,” Louis says, pointing to each of the two boys in the room. Niall has bright blue eyes, brighter than Louis’ and sandy blonde hair. “Niall, Harry, that’s Zayn. He’s going to be here with you guys.”

“He’s cute,” Niall says. “We’ve got lots of kiddy movies for him to watch.”

“That’s good,” Liam says. “He loves movies. Isn’t that right, Zayn?”

Zayn nods his head, looking at Harry and Niall cautiously. “Like movies.” 

“That’s good,” Harry says, smiling at Zayn. It’s one of the first smiles Liam has seen him crack since he’s known him. “We’ve also got some colors around here somewhere, do you think coloring?”

“Yes,” Zayn says nodding his head.

“Excellent. We can do those together while our daddies are out, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Zayn says in agreement. “Dada, we color.”

Liam smiles. “That’s excellent, darling. You’ll have a great time while I’m gone.”

“Speaking of when you’re gone, Liam, we really should be going,” Louis says. 

Liam nods in understanding, kissing Zayn on the cheek before passing him over to Harry. He feels a wave of nausea rush through his body as he watches Harry hold his son. He has no idea what he was thinking because there is no way that Harry can take care of a child when he can hardly dress appropriate for work. Or how he can barely remember to keep his attitude in check so there is no guarantee that he won’t say something to Zayn that will cause the child to cry. 

“I don’t—Louis, is this a good idea?”

“Your son is fine,” Harry says. “My dad doesn’t like you enough to risk your child’s life just so he can go out on a date with you.” 

“Harry,” Louis says, looking offended. “Mind your mouth.” 

“Okay, right. Okay. Zayn, be good, okay? Daddy will be back later and then we’ll go home. Harry, I wrote my number down and stuck it in his pocket. You’re free to take it from him if you need me. He shouldn’t be too picky with dinner, and you have to remind him about going to the bathroom sometimes, because he might forget if he gets too excited about something. He doesn’t really have a bedtime because if he wants to sleep then he’ll just do it. That’s another thing, he sometimes just falls asleep, but it’s nothing to be worried about. If he gets too whiney or won’t stop asking about me then please call,” Liam says, trying not to beg. 

“He will,” Louis says, pressing a hand to Liam’s shoulder. “If you don’t answer then he’ll call me, right?”

“All right,” Harry says. “Now go.” 

“Okay,” Liam says, stepping forward and kissing Zayn. “I love you, and Daddy will be back.” 

“Niall, Harry, no fighting tonight. Niall if he starts to make you mad then just go in your room for a little while and relax, okay? Harry, you’re in charge of not only yourself, but two other people. Don’t get distracted. I don’t care who is texting you what, got it?”

“Yes, now leave,” Harry says, shooing his hand at them. 

Liam nods his head, ready to add just one more thing to his speech about Zayn but Louis has a grip on his arm and his pulling him towards the front door, so all he can do is spare his son one last glance before he’s pulled out of the house. 

~~~

Liam pulls open the door to the restaurant, smiling when Louis thanks him. Their date was planned without much notice so he wasn’t able to make a reservation. It’s been years since he’s taken someone out on a date. He doesn’t remember what it’s like to take anyone out other than a small child. He made the reservations at a small Italian place as soon as he had gotten home from work. He figured Italian was the safest option, and he didn’t want to possibly poison Louis with food he didn’t like. 

They’re seated at their table immediately and Liam can feel the energy and excitement bouncing off of Louis. It’s suffocating the entire room with the ways he’s smiling and vibrating in his seat, scanning the menu. 

“This all sounds so delicious,” Louis say, scanning the menu and licking his lips. 

Louis doesn’t even bother opening the thing. As soon as the waitress comes he’s ordering a large bowl of pasta with meat sauce and fancy cheeses. Louis gives him a look before ordering his own meal. 

“I’ve never been here before,” Louis says. “I’m glad you brought me.” 

Liam shrugs, because he really doesn’t think he deserves much praise for doing a quick Internet search on places to take your date in town. They also recommended seeing a movie following, but it’s Zayn’s first time being around Harry and Niall, and he doesn’t want to be gone longer than necessary. Maybe they can see a movie another time, if there is another time. 

“Do you think we’ll have enough room for dessert? I should have ordered chocolate cake instead, shouldn’t I have?”

“You can get it after your meal. And if we’re full then we’ll wait until we’re not to order.”

“You’re the best,” Louis says. “I should have pushed you into taking me out sooner.”

“I would have caved eventually. I still don’t understand why you wanted to go with me so much to begin with.”

“Are you kidding me? Liam, look at you. I bet everyone wants to go out with you.” 

Liam can feel the blush creeping it’s way onto his face. “I don’t—you’re just—honestly, I don’t think that’s true. I think it’s just you.”

“Good,” Louis says, nodding firmly. “I don’t want any competition. I worked too hard and spent so much money trying to get you to notice me.” 

“I noticed you,” Liam admits. “You’re just—you come off very strong and I wasn’t sure what to think of you.”

“And now?” Louis asks, leaning forward, propping his elbows on the table and holding his heat in his hand, fluttering his eyelashes. 

“I’d be lying if I said I knew what to think. You’re very unpredictable, and a little bit odd, but mostly harmless or so I’ve noticed.”

“You think I’m odd?” Louis asks, sticking out his bottom lip. 

“No,” Louis says, shaking his head quickly. “Absolutely not.”

“Do you think I’m wonderful?” Louis asks, going back to batting his eyelashes. 

“I think you might have something in your eyes, but you’re not odd. I mean, a little bit, maybe. I’ve yet to meet anyone that went shopping everyday for food they didn't need just to say hello to someone.”

“Liam, you really must get over that. It was a bump in the road. A story to tell your son when he’s older, and there is nothing in my eye. I’m trying to flirt with you using my eyes and you’re making it difficult.”

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t—I couldn’t tell. I think I’m a bit slow when it comes to things like that.”

Louis’ sighs. “It’s okay. It wouldn’t be okay if we were anywhere else, but this place is so romantic,” Louis says, looking around in admiration. “I should have known you’d do a romantic date.” 

“Aren’t dates supposed to be romantic?”

Louis shrugs. “It depends on the person, I suppose. Sometimes they can be fun. I just didn’t think you’d go with something romantic like this when you weren’t really sure about taking me out.” 

“I’m sorry about that. I haven’t taken anyone out in a long time. I went with what I thought was safest. You kept asking me to dinner so I figured this would be okay.”

“How long?” Louis asks, looking intrigued.

“Pardon?” Liam asks, looking confused. 

“How long has it been since you took someone out on a date?” Louis repeats. 

Liam thinks about it for a moment, trying to remember the last time he spent a Friday night with anyone other than Zayn. It’s been years. “Shortly before Zayn was born. I know I haven’t taken anyone on a date since he was born.”

“Liam, that’s been years!”

“I know, believe me, I know,” Louis says, feeling slightly embarrassed at his confession. 

“Where’s Zayn’s mother?” Louis asks. 

“She died, several years ago. Zayn was only a couple months old. Zayn looks exactly like Enny. She had the dark hair and the hazel eyes. I don’t know what he got from me, but I’m in there somewhere.” 

“I’m sorry to hear about that. Harry and Niall don’t have a mother either. Not in the same way as Zayn, but still,” Louis says, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Did she give up her rights?” Liam asks, looking genuinely curious about the topic. 

“Technically. They’re both adopted. I don’t know anything about their biological parents, but I’m all they have no. No mother, no other father, just me.”

“I have a feeling you’re more than enough to cover both roles.” 

“I’m more than enough in a lot of things,” Louis says with a wink. 

Liam swallows thickly, the air around them changing with Louis’ last remark. Liam reaches up and takes a careful sip of his water before saying, “I’d imagine so.”

~~~ 

“Are we going to do it again?” Louis asks, pausing their entrance into Louis’ home. 

The night had gone far better than Liam imagined it to be. He’s not sure if it’s the fact Louis didn’t spend the date circling around the building trying to catch a glimpse of Louis, or jabbering away and insisting that they go out to dinner, but Louis is far different than he expected. He thought Louis would be loud, slightly rude, and pushy. And he is, but he’s all smart, and funny, and knows how to carry out a conversation so there aren’t any dull moments, or moments where Liam could stop and think about if he was doing everything right, if his hair looked okay, if he had something in his teeth. Louis made the date fun and easy. And Liam would love to do it. 

“Yeah, yeah, maybe,” Liam says, nodding his head. 

“Perfect,” Louis says with a smile. “I’d ask for a kiss, but I don’t think you’re the first date kiss kind of guy, so instead I’ll just let you into my house so you can get your son and I spend the night dreaming about kissing you. And you can go home and beat yourself up for not kissing me, and then tomorrow when I come to the grocery store you can sweep me off my feet and kiss me in the middle of the all the produce.”

Liam steps back, staring at Louis in horror. “You’re not really going to stalk the store tomorrow are you?”

“I think I’m out of milk,” Louis says with a wink as he slips the key into the slot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if there are any errors, it's finals and I can barely remember how to spell my own name. I promise to come back and edit it up better once my brain stops being all jumbled.


	7. Chapter 7

Louis wakes up early the next morning, working his way around the kitchen as he tries to make a nice meal for his kids. He feels like he’s floating on clouds after his date with Liam. He hadn’t expected it to go as well as it had. He thought there would be more resistance on Liam’s end and that Louis would have to work to get him to relax and have a good time, but he didn’t. Louis hopes that there will be a second date and a third and a forth and so on and so on. 

He’s in the middle of finishing the pancakes when he hears the sound of Harry entering the kitchen. 

“Good morning,” Louis says, smiling at his son. “Have a seat. There are eggs at the table and I’m finishing up the pancakes now. We’re going to have a great breakfast today.”

“You’re in a good mood this morning,” Harry says, dropping down in his chair at the table. “I’m guessing your date with Mr. Payne went good.” 

“It went amazing,” Louis sings as he drops pancakes down onto his son’s plate. “It was the best first date I’ve ever been on. I think there will be a second one. I hope there will be a second one. I’m going to stop by the grocery store later so I can talk to him. I don’t want him to forget about what a great time we had.” 

“I don’t think he could forget his stalker,” Harry says, taking a bite of the food on his plate. 

“Who is Dad stalking?” Niall asks as he bounds in the room, dropping into his chair and immediately beginning to eat his food. “I love when you make pancakes.” 

“I’m not stalking anyone. I’m going to see Liam at work today,” Louis defends as he joins his sons at the table. 

“Did he ask you to come?” Niall asks. Louis shakes his head. “Then that’s stalking. I’ve seen it on a movie before. You show up where he doesn’t want you and then you kidnap them and chop their head off. Then you go to jail.” 

“What kind of movies are you watching?” Louis asks, horrified. 

Niall shrugs. “I watched it one night when you were sleeping.” 

“No more late night movies. No more movies with blood or violence, you know the rules. Actually, no more movies, just…none, I think that would be best, right? Good, and now that that is settled I want to ask you guys what you thought about Liam and Zayn.” 

“Mr. Payne is a bit of a pushover, but his son is cute,” Harry says, placing some pancake in his mouth. 

“Oh man, Dad, Zayn fell asleep four different times last night. He fell asleep on the couch twice, and then once on the floor in front of the TV, and another time he crawled under this table, right here in the kitchen, and went to sleep. Harry had to carry him to the living room, but he woke up a few minutes later. It was so weird,” Niall says. 

“What did you think about Liam?” Louis asks. 

“He seemed nice. I don’t know, he didn’t really talk a lot, but I mean, if you went on a date with him then he has to be nice, right?”

“Not usually,” Harry says, staring down into his cup before he takes a sip of his orange juice. “Remember Mike, and Jack?” 

“Harry, don’t do that, we’re enjoying a nice breakfast, okay? Let’s talk about something other than Liam. I’m happy you like him, Niall. And Harry, he’s a really great guy. I think you would know that if you actually spoke to him at work. I think you’d like him. But we’re not talking about him anymore. Let’s talk about your plans for the day.”

“I’m going to go to Sean’s house,” Niall says. 

“Well since Niall is going to be gone all day and you’re going to be stalking Liam, I think I’m going to go to Caroline’s house,” Harry says.

“Caroline? Who is Caroline? What’s a Caroline?” Louis asks. He’s never heard Harry mention a girl before, and he doesn’t think he’s ever heard this girl’s name before. Usually Harry is always hanging around some kid named Nick, and the other two named Ben and Cal that he’s only met a few times, but they seemed like nice kids. But Caroline…that’s a name he hasn’t heard before. 

Harry shrugs his shoulders, finishing off the last of his juice before standing up. “She’s a girl from school, don’t worry about it. I’ll be back home by dinner, all right?”

“Me too,” Niall shouts, jumping up out of his chair and chasing after Harry, running out the back door to go to Sean’s house. 

Louis turns, watching his children as the make their way across the yard, off in different directions. He sighs, shaking his head, realizing that he has to clean up this meal on his own. 

~~~ 

Louis steps out of his car, giving himself the precursory glance in his mirror that he does every time he’s at Liam’s grocery store. He fixes his hair, before straightening out his clothes and making his way inside the store. He glances around upon entering and doesn’t see Liam anywhere around. He goes up to the little room with the two-way mirror, pressing his face against the glass and doesn’t see anyone standing behind it. He walks around the perimeter of the store before he realizes that Liam must be in the back. 

Louis glances around, making sure that no employees are looking before he darts through the door that Liam brought him through during the first time they met. He sees Liam in the far corner, sitting behind a desk, flipping through a huge stack of papers. He looks cute with his shirt sleeves rolled up, and his hair tousled from running his fingers through it probably. 

Louis makes his way over towards Liam’s desk, careful to be quiet so Liam is unsuspecting. He creeps up behind Liam and wraps one of his hands over Liam’s eyes. 

“Guess who,” Louis says, dropping down to say the words in Liam’s ear. 

“Oh, god. Andy, I really don’t have time for this. I need to get these papers organized, and filed away,” Liam says, pulling Louis’ fingers off of his eyes. 

“Who is Andy?” Louis asks, frowning at the back of Liam’s head. It’s not his place to say anything, but he really wants to sit Liam down, and figure out every detail of this Andy’s life and his connection to Liam so that Louis can scare him off and keep him away. 

“Louis?” Liam says, spinning around in his chair. “Oh god, I’m sorry. I thought you were a friend of mine. Although I should have known you were coming since you did kind of warn me.” 

Louis wants to be jealous, he is jealous of this Andy and the fact that he knows Liam and probably didn’t have to follow him around a grocery to get the opportunity to talk to him. But then Louis remembers how it was him that was able to get Liam out on date after three years. And that…well that makes him feel pretty important. “It’s okay,” Louis says, walking around Liam’s desk and dropping down into one of the chairs. “Did you miss me?”

“I—well, it’s only been a few hours,” Liam says, and Louis pouts, sticking out his bottom lip and batting his eyes at Liam. Liam sighs. “Sure, yeah, of course.” 

“Oh good,” Louis says, brightening up. “I knew you did, because most people tend to miss when I’m away from them. Besides my children, I’d guess. Well definitely Harry, but maybe not Niall. Anyway, how is work?”

“It’s, um, well, it’s stressful. Honestly.” 

“Oh no, you poor baby. Well I found that the best way to deal with stress is to think about something else. So don’t think about work. Let’s talk about something else.” 

“Like?” Liam asks, looking skeptical. 

“What did Zayn say about my boys?” Louis asks; he feels worried that maybe things didn’t go as well as Harry and Niall had told him. He wants Liam to like him, and he knows in order for that to happen properly that his son has to like him and his sons. If Zayn wasn’t happy or comfortable then Liam might not want to be around Louis. And Louis…he really wants Liam to like him. 

“He liked them. He said Harry was really nice, and played with him. He thought that Niall was funny, but he really liked Harry. I’m surprised really, because Harry isn’t exactly the best charmer or people person really, but Zayn kept going on about him last night on the drive home. What did they think about Zayn?”

“Um, they said he was cute, but they were a little worried when he fell asleep under the kitchen table. Harry said he had to put him on the couch, but he woke up shortly after. Niall was fascinated with how often he fell asleep.”

“Yeah, he tends to sleep a lot, but he’s growing, so I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” Liam says. “Maybe I should take him to a doctor or something and get it checked out. It’s not really anything dangerous, but he sleeps more than most people.”

“Jesus, Liam, relax,” Louis says, letting out a laugh. “You’re all wound up.”

“Work is really stressful today, and I don’t know how to handle it right now.” 

“I know just the thing,” Louis says, standing up out of his chair. 

Liam’s eyes seem to go wide as he watches Louis walking towards him. He looks a bit panicked as he scoots his chair back a few feet. “Louis, we can’t have sex in my office. There aren’t any walls, for starters, and I work here. Plus, it’s only been one date and we haven’t even kissed yet, and don’t you think that we should take things slow? Have you ever taken anything slow before?” 

“No, I haven’t,” Louis says. “But I wasn’t going to put your cock in my ass or anything. I was going to rub your shoulders, give you a massage. That’s okay for after one date and no kissing, right? Am I allowed to put my hands on your shoulders?”

“Oh,” Liam says, skin flushing as Louis steps behind him. “Yeah, that’s…um, that’s fine.” 

Louis reaches down and presses the heel of his hand into Liam’s shoulders. He can feel how tight the muscles are from stress, and Louis works his hands into the meat of Liam’s shoulders, feeling as his muscles loosen under his grip. 

“Feel all right?” Louis asks. 

“Yeah,” Liam says, dropping his head down. “Yeah, it feels, ugh, yeah—it’s good.”

Louis smirks, realizing that he found something that makes Liam lose a teensy bit of his self-control. Liam is practically mush in Louis’ hands, Liam’s body slumping slightly as Louis continues to work at the muscles.

“I’m sorry for assuming you were going to try and have sex with me,” Liam says after a few minutes. “You’re just…very forward, and I thought—well, it doesn’t matter what I thought, because I shouldn’t have thought it. I should have trusted you. So, I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Louis says. “I’d be happy to have sex with you in your office, but I’m still trying not to scare you away so for now this is good.”

Liam doesn’t answer, instead lets out a tiny groan as Louis hits a sensitive part of his back. 

~~~ 

Louis is pacing the living room floor, waiting for Harry to walk through the front door. Harry had promised that he would be home for dinner, and it is hours past that time. Niall is already in bed, sleeping, and Louis is barely able to keep his eyes open. He’s tried calling Harry every five minutes but his son’s phone is off. He should taken information of the girl that Harry was going to see instead of just watching his son run out the backdoor. 

He hears the sound of keys being pushed into the doorknob and he knows that it’s Harry. He stands up from the couch and walks over towards the door, standing in front of it with his arms crossed as Harry shoves open the door. 

“Hey,” Harry says, stepping into the house, shutting the door behind him, and stepping out of shoes. “What are you doing awake?”

“What am I doing awake? What am I doing awake? It’s after midnight and you’re just now showing up? You were supposed to be back for dinner, but you weren’t and when I tried calling your phone was turned off. It’s been off all night. Where the hell were you?” Louis hisses, feeling his anger beginning to rise. 

“I was at Caroline’s. Her parents asked me to stay for dinner so I did, and I didn’t turn my phone off, it died. I didn’t think it would really matter to you if I made it back or not by dinner.” 

“It matters a lot. You said to me that you would be back a certain time, and I’ve worried, out of my mind, for hours, waiting for you to come home or to at least call and talk to me about when you could come back. When you say you’ll be home for dinner that means that you’ll be home for dinner.” 

“Jesus, relax,” Harry says, shaking his head. “I’ll eat your dinner and it’ll be like I was here during the real meal. 

“No, I don’t think you will,” Louis says, following after Harry as he makes his way into the kitchen.

“And why is that?”

“I threw your food away. I scraped it into the trash and threw the bag in the can outside. If you want to eat dinner I suggest you get a fork and a flashlight, because you’ll be doing it on the side of the house.”

“Your out of your mind,” Harry shouts. 

“And you’re grounded,” Louis shouts back. 

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, no I’m not. If your ten year old brother can come home on time, when he has no sense of the word then so can you. He walked in the door at exactly seven, and stayed in the rest of the night. If you wanted to stay out later then you should have called. I would have agreed, but now—now, you’re grounded. I want your phone too. If it’s going to be dying then maybe you shouldn’t have it. God forbid this Caroline girl have a charger in her house. How do they charge their phones? Do they just sit them outside and hope the sun can work some magic on them? Or do they just not have electricity and they can only charge their phones when they sneak into stores.” 

Harry shoves his hand into his pocket and tosses his phone towards Louis. “I didn’t know it was dead until I was leaving, and yes they have chargers and yes they have electricity.”

“Oh good, I was worried about that, because god forbid that you take advantage of either of those things and call your own father.”

“I tried calling you earlier and you didn’t answer. You were probably shoving your head up Mr. Payne’s ass some more so he’ll pity date you again,” Harry says, glaring at his father. 

Louis sighs, shaking his head. “Harry, go to bed. It’s late and I’m tired. We’ll talk about your punishment in the morning.”

“Whatever,” Harry says, brushing past Louis and stomping up the stairs. 

Louis listens to him go and wonders what he’s going to do with his son.


	8. Chapter 8

Liam hears his phone buzz from its place on the table; he ignores it, knowing that it’s Louis sending him another message. He grabs the brown crayon and goes back to coloring the page Zayn tore out of his coloring book for him. It’s a scene of some pigs rolling around in the mud with a far house behind them, and it’s probably the worst page in the book, but Zayn had wanted to sit down and color for the afternoon so Liam is willing to color a bunch of cartoon pigs. 

“Dada, you phone,” Zayn says, pausing his scribbles to look up at Liam. 

“I hear it, baby, but I’m not going to answer it while we’re playing.” 

“What if it’s Nana?” 

“I don’t think it’s Nana, bub,” Liam says. “Can I use the green crayon or are you still using it?”

Zayn hands the crayon over, and picks up the yellow one off the table. “Dada, you phone,” Zayn says, pointing towards the device that has just vibrated across the wood again. “It’s Nana.” 

Liam sighs, picking up the phone and seeing that he was in fact correct that it was Louis trying to get a hold of him. He has seven unread messages, some of them from the night before. He unlocks his phone, and begins reading everything that Louis has sent him. 

Do you think I should make spaghetti for dinner or hamburgers? There is a debate in the household and the Tomlinson men are divided.

Stop leaving your phone on silent or vibrate!

Good night, Liam Payne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woke up at 3 in the morning to Harry trying to crawl out of his bedroom window. I’m going to nail his windows shut. Is it against the law to just board them up or to remove them? 

The kids in my class this morning dumped over a bucket of glitter. My hair is pink and sparkly. 

There is a picture attached to the last message of Louis with a pout, and pink specks over his cheeks and forehead. He has a heap of glitter on top of his head, and it brings a smile to Liam’s face. The next two messages seem more like things that actually pertain to Liam. 

Harry is in a mood today, not surprising, but good luck with him at work. 

Liam, I can’t come to the store today, because Niall has a soccer game, and I don’t think I’ll have time to make it. Try not to miss me too much! 

It’s been a week since Louis and Liam’s date, and Liam finds that most days his phone is clouded with messages from Louis. Sometimes his texts are pictures of random things around town, at his work or home that he thinks are funny and wants to share with Liam. He tells Liam what Niall and Harry have done for the day

More often than not though there are a bunch of messages hinting that he wants a second date. 

“Who’s it?” Zayn asks, kneeling on his chair, reaching for a new crayon. 

“It’s Louis,” Liam says, typing out a response along the lines of how he’ll try not to miss Louis’ too much, but missing a trip to the grocery store once in the entire week isn’t the end of the world. “Do you remember meeting Louis? You went to his house and played with his son’s, Harry and Niall?”

“Oh, Harry,” Zayn says with wide eyes. “He’s funny. I members him. Dada, when are we going to see them?”

“I don’t know. Harry works for Daddy so I get to see him in a few hours, and Niall and Louis are at a soccer game. Louis just texted me about it.”

“Soccer?” Zayn says. 

“Yeah, Niall is on a team so Louis is going to watch him.”

“Can I go?” Zayn asks. 

“No, but you get to go to Nana’s house, and she’s fun. Maybe you can see a different game.”

“I like them,” Zayn says, letting out a yawn as he grabs new crayons. “I wants to go to soccer.”

~~~ 

Liam picks up the paperwork on his desk, fixing the stack so all the papers are even so he can slide them into the manila folder and put them back in the filing cabinet. It’s the end of the month and he’s finally managed to finish the invoices and log books. He hears the sound of footsteps and turns to see Harry approaching him. 

“I just wanted to come back and let you know that my shift is over so I’m going home for the night,” Harry says, stopping in front of Liam’s desk. 

“That’s fine, did you remember to count your register?”

“Yeah, I did, but Claire is there now so she has it.”

“All right,” Liam says, dropping the folder into the cabinet. 

“Well if that’s all then I’ll be going,” Harry says, pointing with his thumb behind him. 

“Actually I wanted to ask you something, if that’s okay.”

“I guess,” Harry says, cocking an eyebrow. “What’s it about?”

“It’s…well, it’s about your Dad,” Liam says, wringing his hands together in front of him, chewing on his bottom lip as he watches Harry’s reaction. 

Harry sighs. “I don’t like talking to you about my father, especially since I know what he wants from you, and I have no idea what you want from him.” 

“I don’t want anything from him,” Liam says. 

“Oh really? So you’re just fucking around with my Dad for shits and giggles? You think it’s funny to fuck with his feelings just because he’s out of his mind and follows you around this dump? Listen, if you’re using my father I’ll report you and tell everyone that you tried to touch me, and I’ll get your entire store closed down, do you understand?” Harry says, practically snarling at Liam. 

“What? No. Don’t. You don’t have to report me, Harry.”

“If you’re going to fuck with my fathers feelings then yeah I do. I don’t give a shit about you or this stupid place and I’ll—“ 

“No, no, Harry, I mean that you don’t have to report me because I’m not using your father. I wouldn’t—I’m not that type of person,” Liam says. “When I said that I didn’t want anything from him I meant that I—I mean, I do want something from him. It just seemed like you were going somewhere negative with your statement and I don’t want you to think that I’m going to, um, use him or whatever. I was asking about him, because I don’t understand him.”

Harry looks at Liam for a moment, his eyes squinted as he considers what Liam just said. “What don’t you understand?”

“He’s just…very—he’s out there. I just don’t understand him at all. He’s very forward about his, um, feelings for me, and he’s always around, and when he’s not then he’s always texting me. He called me after you and Niall went to bed the other night. It was nice, but. I’m just confused. He was walking around the store, because he wanted a date and I took him on one, not just because he was always here but more so because I could tell that he really has feelings for me, and I enjoyed myself. It was a great date. But then he kept coming around the store even after we went on a date.”

“Yeah, that’s my Dad,” Harry says. “He’s crazy.”

“He’s not crazy,” Liam defends, shaking his head. 

“No, he is. But it’s only about certain things. He’s determined when it comes to the things that he wants or the people that he wants. He does everything on a grand scale, because he’s overdramatic. He likes large gestures, and sometimes he goes over board and doesn’t know when enough is enough. But he means well,” Harry explains. “I know that he’s a lot, but he’s harmless.” 

“He’s harmless,” Liam says, nodding his head. “For the record, I think your Dad is great. He’s funny, and he cares a lot about you, and Niall. I just don’t understand him when it comes to me.”

“I can’t help you with that,” Harry says. “Actually it’s not that I can’t, but I won’t. I told you that I don’t want to talk about my Dad with you, but I gave you something so that’s good enough.”

“Right, yeah of course. I’m sorry that I keep coming to you about it. I’ve got one friend, but he’s a bit shit with things like this, and of course there’s my mother but I’m not a teenager anymore. And Zayn, but I doubt my son would have any insights on your father.”

“It’s fine. It’s whatever,” Harry says. “Listen, can I get out of here? My Dad knows what time I get off and he’s kind of on my case about coming home on time, and I really don’t want to listen to him when I walk in the door five minutes late, because you wanted to girl talk.”

“Right, right, of course. Thank you, Harry,” Liam says. 

Harry offers a small wave before turning and leaving. Liam waits for Harry to disappear before he pulls out his phone to send a text to Louis. 

Are you free tonight? 

~~~ 

“Okay Zayn we’re leaving, I’ll see you later, okay?” Liam says, kneeling down to kiss Zayn on the forehead. “Remember that Harry will call me if you need me or want me to come back.”

“I know,” Zayn says, settling in on the couch. He leans back, pressing his head into the cushion, crossing his legs so one is thrown over the other. 

“Well, it looks like you’re settled,” Liam says, standing up. 

“Liam, come on. Everyone is fine, Zayn is fine, and our movie starts in an hour so we should be going,” Louis says, grabbing Liam’s wrist and pulling him towards the door. 

“Call if anything happens,” Liam manages to say before Louis tugs him out the door. “Why are you rushing?”

“I’ve waited a week, seven days, for you to ask me out on a date and I love my children, and your son is an absolute doll but I’m not going to waste our precious time together rattling off a bunch of rules for them. I want to spend as much time with you as possible. It took you a week after the first date so it will probably take you two weeks after this one, since it’s the second,” Louis says, stopping when they reach Liam’s car. 

Liam reaches past Louis, and pulls the door open for Louis, waiting for him to get inside before he closes the door and makes his way over towards his side. He settles into the car, making sure that Louis has put his safety belt on before he puts it in drive. 

It’s a twenty-minute drive to the theater, Louis had picked out the movie and the location, and Liam is inclined to believe that Louis purposely picked the theater that was the furthest away in order to prolong the conversation. Louis seems to really enjoy talking, whether it’s in general or just to Liam he’s not sure. 

“Our second date,” Louis says, waggling his eyebrows. “What took so long?”

“I don’t know,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess I hadn’t really thought about it, but I talked to Harry today after his shift ended, by the way if he was late today it was because of me, and but I talked to him and he convinced me to ask you on another one.”

“Harry?” Louis asks, looking confused. “Harry is the reason you asked me out tonight?”

“Well, he didn’t make me do it or anything, but I talked to him at work, about you, and he made me realize that I would like a second date. I mean, that’s okay, right?” Liam asks, chewing on his bottom lip. “I just thought…you wanted this date.” 

“Liam, you’re ridiculous,” Louis says, rolling his eyes. He reaches over, putting his hand against the back of Liam’s head, playing with the hair at the base of Liam’s neck. “I wouldn’t have dragged you out of my house if I didn’t want to be here. I thought it was obvious that I wanted to be here, especially since I just told you that I’ve been waiting a week for you to ask me out again. I’m just surprised that Harry would be the one to convince you of anything.” 

“He didn’t tell me to date you or anything, but we talked about you, and something about it made me want to see you again in a setting that isn’t my office or one of the aisles in the store. I don’t think he really likes that we go on these dates.”

“No, he probably doesn’t,” Louis agrees. “He’s never been very keen on me dating anyone, even when he was really little. He used to cry, and make the babysitter call me to come home. He’d throw the biggest fits about it.” 

“I guess not much has changed,” Liam says, attempting to wink at Louis so he knows that it’s a joke. 

“No, but back then his fits usually involved tears and less words. Niall never seemed to care about the dates, he always liked when I would leave and people would come over to the house and watch him. But I remember one time Harry put a bunch of cereal in the toilet to pretend like he had gotten sick, because he didn’t want me to go,” Louis says with a laugh. “He’s a Daddy’s boy…was a Daddy’s boy, not much of one now days.”

“He still cares about you,” Liam says. “He’s a teenager though so he’s too cool to show you it, but he cares. He wouldn’t be against the dating if he didn’t care.”

“You’re very sweet, Liam,” Louis says, squeezing the back of Liam’s neck lightly. “And that’s why I’ve agreed to go out with you.”

“I’m glad you did,” Liam says. 

“What would have done if I said no?” Louis teases. 

“I don’t—I’m not sure. Hide?” 

Louis giggles, removing his hand from Liam’s neck, and says, “I don’t think I’d ever say no to a date from you.”

“Good, that’s—that’s good. Maybe after the movie we could get dinner,” Liam suggests, looking at Louis out of the corner of his eye to see the wide smile that spreads across Louis’ face. 

~~~ 

Liam follows Louis up the path to his front door after their date so he can get Zayn and take him home. It’s nearly ten in the evening, their date going longer than he had expected. They stayed at the restaurant until close, talking and laughing. Liam was embarrassed when the waiter had to tell them that it was well after closing time, and they’d like to close down the restaurant. 

It was fun, and Liam’s happy that the second date went as well as the first. 

They stop when they reach to the door; Louis fiddles with his keys, trying to open the door, while Liam watches, thinking back on the night. Louis finally gets the right key, and pushing it into the lock, and Liam doesn’t know what it is but he finds himself reaching out, and grabbing onto Louis’ wrist, stopping him from being able to open the door. He gently coaxes Louis to turn around and look at him instead of facing the house. 

“Liam, what?” Louis asks, hand still on the doorknob. “Did you hear something? What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, nothing,” Liam says. He takes a deep breath, taking a step up so he’s on the same stair as Louis. 

“Then what is it,” Louis asks, looking confused and anxious. 

Liam leans forward and presses his lips against Louis’ cheek, just next to the corner of his mouth. He pulls away and sees Louis staring at him with wide eyes, a small smile growing on his lips as he brings a hand up to his cheek. 

“I just wanted to say that I’ve had an amazing time with you tonight.”

Louis smiles, wide and bright with all of his teeth on display. He looks happy, and Liam feels proud of himself that he put the smile there with a simple gesture. “I knew you liked me, Liam Payne,” Louis says, his tone the same teasing one he always has when he’s around Liam.


	9. Chapter 9

Liam frowns, noticing the way Harry is glaring at him from across the store. He’s in the middle of unloading food from boxes and onto the shelves, restocking their inventory, and Harry is on the other side, sitting behind his register, glaring at Liam in what appears to be anger. And Liam honestly hasn’t the slightest clue as to why Harry would be so angry, or why Harry is always angry about something. Maybe it’s the storm going on outside, rain beating down on the glass windows as thunder and lightning continue to strike. It’s been going on for an hour and doesn’t look to be showing any signs of stopping, which could but anyone in a bad mood, maybe even Harry. But it still doesn’t answer Liam’s question about why he’s glaring at Liam. Liam didn’t plan the storm. 

He ignores Harry, turning his back on the teenager as he begins to slowly unload boxes of cereal, shoving them onto the shelf in the correct place. It’s awfully boring, and Liam almost cries from relief when he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket with one, two, three messages. 

**Liammmmmmmmmmmmmmmm**

**Miss you.**

**I hope work isn’t too terrible without meeee ;)**

Liam reads the message, smiling at his phone as he types out a response.

_I’m sure I’ll manage. Not too sure about Harry though._

**Is he being a monster? I’ll talk to him later. He seemed a little cranky this morning, but he’s always a little cranky, isn’t he?**

_He’s not baddddd just giving me glares. Probably because I’m the boss, no one likes the boss._

Liam waits a few seconds for a response to come and when it doesn’t come he pockets his phone, going back to restocking the shelves. 

He manages to unload an entire case before his phone buzzes again. He takes his time answering it, breaking down the box the food was in, and carrying it to the dumpsters in the back. When he enters the store again he checks on Harry to make sure he’s okay, he’s in the middle of scanning an older woman’s groceries, smiling at her with his eyes crinkled, laughing at one of her jokes. Liam smiles at the sight, making his way across the store and slipping into the security room to watch the store through the two-way mirror. 

It’s when he’s comfortably seated that he finally pulls out his phone, reading Louis text. 

**I like the boss ;)**

Liam feels himself blush, his cheeks heating up as he reads the words over and over again. He turns his phone off, sitting it down on the table so he can get back to work. 

~~~

The door to the surveillance room swings open causing Liam to jump, he turns around and sees Harry slamming the door closed behind him. 

“What happened last night?” Harry asks. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Liam says, confused. “Nothing happened last night.”

“What happened between you and my father?”

“Last night? Nothing we went to see a movie and then got food afterwards. Nothing happened.” Liam says, shaking his head. “Nothing.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Harry says, glaring at Liam. 

“I don’t—Harry, I don’t know what you heard, but nothing happened. We had a good time.” 

“I heard you kissed my father,” Harry says, hardening his gaze. 

Liam’s face falls, trying to smile at Harry. “Oh.” 

“Yeah.” 

“He told you about that?” Liam asks, scratching the back of his neck. 

Harry rolls his eyes. “My dad tells everyone everything. He has no secrets. It was all he could talk about this morning; he woke me up after you and Zayn left to tell me. He’s happy, and you better not fuck it up.”

“It wasn’t, like, anything serious,” Liam says. “It was just on the cheek, kind of, close to the lips but not on them. I mean, it was only our second date so—that was appropriate, right? I didn’t think about it. I just thought—I mean, was it okay?”

Harry rolls his eyes again, shaking his head at Liam. “If it wasn’t fine my dad would have pushed you off of him or slapped you across the mouth. It’s not fine with me though.”

“You’re not going to, um, I mean, you wouldn’t slap me, right?”

Harry laughs, smiling slightly. “I’ve envisioned doing a lot worse, but no I’m not. I came in here to tell you that if you fuck this up I will do everything that I envisioned, do you understand me?”

“Harry, of course. If I didn’t want to be around your father then I wouldn’t be. And if I change my mind then I promise to end it in the nicest way possible. I wouldn’t intentionally hurt anyone.”

“That’s great, but I don’t want you around my father.”

“I know,” Liam says. “Your dad knows too, it upsets him. He knows you’re not happy about it, but isn’t it better me than someone else? You know, you can always come in here and yell at me, but you can’t with someone else. Isn’t that a perk? If it would help I’d be happy to talk to him about maybe not telling you everything that happens between us.”

“For me maybe, but not for you. And it wouldn’t help because then he’d get all pouty. It’s honestly a nightmare to deal with him like that. You have a lot to learn about Louis Tomlinson.”

“If I let you keep yelling at me then will you let me keep seeing your dad? I kind of—well, he’s good company, and I—he’s funny, and I might, maybe, um, perhaps I might like him. A little bit. It’s definitely not as much as he likes me, but it’s a little bit.”

Harry glares, taking a deep breath, and Liam’s phone vibrates from its place on the table, he smiles at Harry as he unlocks his phone to reveal the message inside. 

**Please, please, please give Harry a ride home. It’s storming and he was supposed to walk home, but it’s too dangerous. Please.**

Liam glances up at Harry, a weak smile playing on his lips. 

“What?” Harry says. “It’s my dad isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it is. I have to give you a ride home tonight.”

“No,” Harry says, shaking his head. “Absolutely not. I don’t want to sit in a car with you so you can impress my father, and he can have an excuse to see you. I’m not going to get into your car.” 

~~~ 

“Buckle up,” Liam says, trying to sound cheerful and excited about having Harry in his car. He waits for the teenager to put his seat belt on before he starts the car and begins driving. “I have to stop and pick up Zayn before I can take you home, it’s on the way so it shouldn’t make our journey too much longer. He’ll be really excited to see you. He’s always talking about you.”

“He’s cute,” Harry says. “I hate when he’s over though because it means you’re out with my dad, but it’s kind of nice having a little kid in the house, one that’s not annoying like Niall.”

“Niall doesn’t seem annoying, you only think that because you’re the older brother, which probably won’t change for a little while. But why do you hate when your dad and I go out so much? Niall doesn’t seem to mind.” Liam says, feeling a little bit brave. 

“Why do you care?” Harry asks. 

“Because I kind of like going out with your dad. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date, or dated anyone, and your dad seems happy so I don’t understand why you’re not happy.”

“He’s never happy for long,” Harry says, staring out of the window. “You’ll turn out to be a loser just like the rest of them.” 

“You don’t know how it will go between me and your father or if it will even get very far. You shouldn’t be so negative about things.”

“The last thing I need is a lecture from you. Listen, I don’t like you, I like you a lot more when you’re not trying to sleep with my father, and I don’t like you taking him out. You’re my boss, who happens to be the guy that's dating my dad, but you’re not my father and you’re not going to lecture me in this stupid car.”

Liam sighs, pulling to a stop in front of the care center where Zayn is. “I’ll be right back.” 

It only takes him five minutes to get Zayn signed out and into the car. Zayn bounces around excitedly in his seat when he sees Harry, smiling shyly and waving at him. Liam notices the way Harry’s entire attitude has change, the way his shoulders relax slightly, the tension from having to be around Liam slowly releasing. 

“Harry, I not know you play today,” Zayn says. 

Harry smiles, turning around in his seat so he can look at Zayn. “I’m not, buddy, but your dad is giving me a ride home so I could see you. How are you?”

Liam smiles at the exchange as he puts the car in gear and begins making his way towards Louis’ house. 

“Good, good,” Zayn says. “Dada say you were in the car.”

“Yeah, I’m here,” Harry says. “I told him that I just had to see you. We had so much fun last night, didn’t we?”

“Yes,” Zayn says, nodding his head. “Where’s Niall?”

“He’s at home, he couldn’t come because he had school and doesn’t work with your dad like I do. What did you do at school?” Harry asks. 

“Color, play, nap, and I used the swings,” Zayn says. “Are you go home with Dada and me?”

“No, I’m not. Remember, I said your dad is giving me a ride home.”

“Oh,” Zayn says. “Dada, we go to Harry?”

“No, I’m afraid not sweetheart. It’s just you and me tonight. But maybe you can play with Harry and Niall soon again, if that’s okay with Harry,” Liam says, sparing a glance towards Harry. 

Harry looks at Liam out of the corner of his eyes, sighing deeply.

~~~ 

When they pull up to the Tomlinson house, Louis is standing outside with an umbrella waving excitedly from the front porch as Liam pulls his car into the driveway, shortening Harry’s walking distance. 

“Why is he outside?” Harry asks. 

“Your dad does a lot of stuff that I just don’t question anymore,” Liam says, putting the car in park. 

Louis jumps off the porch and races towards the car, Liam presses the button and begins to lower Harry’s window. 

“Hi,” Louis says, smiling. “Thank you for bringing him home. It’s pouring out here.”

“I know it is, what are you doing outside?” Liam asks. “How long have you been out here?” 

“Like fifteen minutes or something, no big deal. I was waiting for you guys. I wanted to make sure I could talk to you before you tried to go home.”

“Well we’re here and you talked to him, let’s go inside now,” Harry says, trying to get out of the car. 

“No, I wanted to invite you to dinner,” Louis says, pushing Harry’s door closed and giving him a look. “You’ve already got Zayn and it’s perfect because the five of us can have dinner together

“I don’t know,” Liam says, remembering the conversation he had with Harry not that long ago, he doesn’t want to push anything with Harry and he doesn’t seem like he’s fully accepted the fact that Liam and Louis are pretty much fully dating at this point in time. He doesn’t want to make Harry uncomfortable and force him to be around the two of them when they’re in a date like setting. It feels different when they’re out just the two of them, but Harry doesn’t seem to be ready for the five of them. “Maybe another night.”

“Oh,” Louis says, frowning. “Okay, yeah, another night.” He turns on his heel, walking back towards the house and disappearing inside. 

Liam groans, dropping his head onto the steering wheel. 

“You’re an idiot,” Harry says. “I don’t want you getting friendly with my dad, but I don’t want you hurting his feelings either. So turn off the car, get Zayn, and meet us inside.” 

Liam keeps his head down, listening to Harry’s door slam closed before he lifts his head up, taking a deep breathing as he rolls up Harry’s window. 

“Zayn, do you want to stay here for dinner? Do you still want to play with Harry and Niall again tonight?”

“Yes. You stay?” Zayn asks. 

“Yeah, I’ll be here.” 

Zayn smiles, and nods his head.


	10. Chapter 10

Liam gets Zayn out of the car, using his jacket to cover his son’s head as they fight the rain to Louis’ porch. He shakes his hair out, trying to get some of the droplets out of his hair as the roof protects them from the downpour. Harry’s left the door open, and Liam enters hesitantly, hoping that Louis isn’t that angry with him and won’t try to kick him out. He really is hungry and he really does want to spend time with Louis but he doesn’t want to push Harry when he’s just told Liam how much he hates him and wants him away from his father. 

The house is surprisingly loud, the television is up, the sounds of a sporting event wafting through the air, a lot banging around going on in the kitchen as Liam sets Zayn on the ground, removing his jacket before picking him back up. He glances around and notices how the walls are practically covered with art projects and pictures of Niall and Harry. There is a coat rack next to the door filled with knitted hats, scarves and gloves, an array of shoes covering the space. He’s standing in front of the living room; he can see Niall inside of it, shouting abuse at the television. To his right is the dining room, the table is covered in boxes of yarns and an array of craft materials that Louis probably uses for his classes, or so Liam would guess. It’s cozy and warm. 

Liam takes a few steps inside, out of the entrance and into the living room; a hallway is to his left, dark and narrow, leading to where he would assume the bedrooms are. Liam glances around the room before his eyes are drawn to Niall’s; he’s sitting on the couch, a knitted blanket draped over the back of it. Liam remembers briefly on their first date how Louis has talked about picking up knitting to pass the time around. He wonders if Louis made it, wonders how much in the house Louis made. Everything about their house is different from Liam’s but it still feels like a home and feels so characteristic of Louis that Liam can’t help but smile at the clutter. 

He must have made a noise because Niall’s head is whipping in his direction, eyes wide before instantly narrowing. He feels a little uncomfortable as he adjusts Zayn on his hips, hoping that Louis isn’t the only one in the house that wants him here. Harry’s disappeared and Louis is nowhere to be seen and Liam feels exposed as he ten year old continues to glower at him. 

“Um, hi,” Liam says, attempting to break the silence. “Where is your dad?”

“Kitchen,” Niall says, offering no other information as he stares at them. Liam takes a few more steps into the house, finally beginning to notice the entrance to the kitchen. 

Louis walks past the doorway before coming to a halt and whipping around to look at them. “What are you doing in here?” He asks, clearly confused. 

“We’re hungry,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulder. “You invited us over so we’re here.” 

Louis breaks out into a smile, staring at Liam in pure happiness as Liam enters the kitchen with Zayn.

“Wow, you have a lot of food,” Liam says in amazement, staring wide-eyed at the food in the open fridge and cabinets. 

Louis at least has the nerve to look humiliated as he smiles at Liam. “Yes well, I’ve done a fair amount of shopping in the past month.” He shrugs and goes to shut all the cabinet doors, using his foot to kick the fridge shut, blushing profusely when he makes eye contact with Liam.

Liam adjusts Zayn on his hips, his son squirming slightly the longer they’ve been in the house. “Oh no, it’s not—it’s okay,” Liam says. “Everyone needs food and your kids are older and at that age where they probably eat a lot. It’s understandable to have a lot of food in your house.”

“Hard not to have a lot of food in the house when your hobbies include stalking a grocer.”

Liam turns around and sees Harry leaning in the doorway, arms folded over his chest as he smiles at Liam.

“Harry,” Louis says, his voice sounding like a warning.

“I know, I know,” Harry says, waving him off. “I came for the baby.” He holds his arms out towards Liam and Zayn immediately shifts around until he’s able to jump into Harry’s arms. 

Liam watches them go, feeling a little better about seeing his son with Harry after he witnessed their interactions in the car. He sees how Zayn smiles at Harry, chattering wildly as he’s carried away. 

“Sorry about him, he’s—“ Louis waves his hand around, shrugging his shoulders, clearly embarrassed with what Harry said. 

“The reason I’m here,” Liam finishes, smiling at Louis. “He called me an idiot and convinced me that this is where I should be, which I’m grateful for, and I’m sorry if it felt like I didn’t. Harry’s pretty angry with me and I didn’t want to make anything worse for you. I wanted to be here, do want to be here.” 

Louis visibly inflates at Liam’s words, his smile brightening. “Good because I prepared a lot of food and I don’t think just me and my boys will be able to eat it. It should be finished soon.”

“I’m going to go check on Zayn,” Liam says. “And then we can talk, just want to make sure he’s having fun.”

~~~~~ 

Louis’ stirring the food in the pot when Niall comes running into the kitchen, he wraps his around Louis’ waist, burying his face into Louis’ stomach, mumbling incoherently. 

“What’s wrong?” Louis asks, dropping the spoon to wrap his arms around Niall. 

Niall talks into Louis’ stomach, the words muffled in the fabric of his shirt. 

“Sweetie, I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“I hate him,” Niall says, looking up and resting his chin on Louis’ abdomen as he looks up at him. His blue eyes are shining and he looks genuinely upset, he’s frowning and looks like he might cry. 

Louis cards his fingers through Niall’s hair, using the other hand to stroke his back. “What did Harry do?”

“It’s not Harry, it’s that stupid baby out there. I hate him. I hate him,” Niall says, placing special emphasis on the word hate. “He’s so stupid and he’s not cute anymore. I want him to go home.” 

“Okay, I’m going to ask Liam to watch over this food for a minute and you and I can talk in my bedroom. Run in there and we’ll talk.”

Niall nods, taking a deep breath before he makes his way in the direction of the bedrooms. 

Louis checks on the food, stirring everything before he heads towards the living room. Liam is knelt on the floor talking to Zayn as Harry flips through channels on the television, stopping when he finds a show for young children. 

“Liam,” Louis says, getting Liam’s attention, along with everyone else in the room. “Can you keep an eye on the food for a moment? Niall needs to talk about something in private. It’s just simple stirring and making sure that nothing boils over and burns.” 

“Of course,” Liam says, pushing up on his knee until he’s in a stand. He makes his way past Louis towards the kitchen, brushing his fingers along Louis’ arm as he passes. 

“Watch Zayn,” Louis says before he takes off towards the bedrooms. He hears Harry grunt in reply, no doubt in Louis’ mind that Harry would have done it without him telling him to do so. 

He makes it towards his bedroom and finds Niall sitting on the bed, head casted down as he waits for Louis. Louis closes the door behind him and goes to sit down next to Niall. 

“Okay so, do you want to tell me what happened?” 

Niall shrugs. “I just don’t like him. He’s over here and I don’t want him here. I want him to go home. I hate Zayn.”

“Is it Zayn that you’re really mad at?” 

“Yes.”

Louis nods, wondering if Niall is actually angry with Liam instead. If maybe he’s really not okay with the entire situation of Louis bringing over a man with a child, he’s never been interested in anyway that’s had children before, most of his old boyfriends weren’t even okay with him having children. Liam’s the first person he’s found an interested in that understands what it’s like being a father and he really hopes that Niall isn’t against it, but he knows deep down inside of him that he’d end it all if either of his children ever flat out told him to. 

“Do you want Liam to go home?” Louis asks, testing the waters of his theory that Niall might not be fully angry with just Zayn. 

Niall shakes his head. “No, he can stay.” 

Louis frowns, feeling confused because he has no idea what a three year old could have possibly done to Niall that would cause him to feel so much animosity towards him. “Can you tell me what happened that made you hate him?”

“I just hate him,” Niall says firmly. “He doesn’t even live here and he’s a baby, he’s stupid, he probably still wets his bed at night, he falls asleep every thirteen minutes, and everyone just loves him. Everyone loves him and they’re nice to him and they talk to him and play with him and I hate him. I don’t want him to come over here anymore.”

It hits Louis that the reason Niall hates Zayn is because Harry likes him. It has nothing to do with Zayn other than he’s getting the attention that Niall wants, because Niall wants to matter to Harry and wants to feel like he’s liked or even appreciated by his brother. “Oh baby,” Louis says, pulling Niall into a hug. He kisses the top of his head when he notices that Niall is crying. “You don’t need to hate Zayn because of Harry. Harry loves you, he does, but he’s a teenager and they don’t know how to show anyone that they care about them. Zayn’s little, and for some reason little kids and babies get special treatment from teenagers.”

“It’s not fair,” Niall cries, dropping his head into Louis’ neck. “I didn’t do anything wrong.” 

“Of course you didn’t. Harry’s going through a lot right now with his body, things you wouldn’t understand but soon he’ll go back to being your sweet big brother. And soon you’ll hate me and you’ll hate Harry, probably the same day that Harry decides to stop being a grump. It’s just a teenager thing, but he doesn’t actually hate anyone. He’s just a little confused on life and where he belongs.”

“But why is he mean to me? Why is he only nice to Zayn?” 

“Oh sweetheart, I wish I could tell you. It’s not you, he’s just…teenagers suck,” Louis says. 

“You like me better than Zayn right?”

“Always,” Louis says. “He doesn’t have anything on you.”

“And you like me better than Harry?”

“No favorites,” Louis says, wiping the tears off Niall’s cheeks. “I love you both the same.”

Niall rolls his eyes. “You have to have a favorite. I like you better than Harry.”

“That’s good to know,” Louis says. “But you’re my favorite younger son. You’re my favorite son with blonde hair and blue eyes. Harry is my favorite older son, and my favorite son with green eyes and brown hair.” 

“You’re stupid,” Niall says, laughing. 

“There you go, getting started on your teen attitude already,” Louis says, teasing. “Do you feel better now?”

Niall nods, rubbing at his eyes and taking a deep breath. 

“If you want me to tell them to go home I will.”

“No, it’s okay. You like Liam and I still hate Zayn but I’ll pretend not to, or just ignore him. I don’t want to ruin your date. Harry hates Liam though.”

“Harry doesn’t hate him, he hates the idea of him and me. But you give me a signal if you’re upset at any point tonight and I’ll tell Liam that he has to leave. I’m sure he’ll be okay with it.”

“No, it’s okay,” Niall says, shaking his head. 

Louis studies him carefully, nodding his head when he notices no traces of Niall telling him what he wants to hear. “Right, well you can stay up here and get your face cleaned off and then come back downstairs or just wait for dinner, if you want. Or you can clean up and you can help me cook if you want to be around Zayn and Harry. I need to go downstairs and check on the roast though, so are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, but maybe I could put on a cartoon that I like and not one that Zayn likes.”

“Hmm,” Louis says, pretending to mull it over. “How about you pick out a Disney movie that you love, but maybe it could be one that Zayn will enjoy too since he’s little and can’t watch all the same things as you.”

“Deal.”

~~~ 

“Is everything okay?” Liam asks when Louis makes it back down to the kitchen. “You were up there for a while. Everything is finished, unless you had special touches. I didn’t put anything on the plates.”

“Yeah, it’s fine. Niall was just upset about something but he’s okay now. Nothing to worry about,” Louis says smiling. “I’ll get the table ready and put everything on plates, and you can get everyone else in here.”

Liam nods, exiting the kitchen. 

It only takes a few minutes before everyone is entering back into the kitchen, Harry bringing in extra chairs from the dining room to make room at their small kitchen table for the guests. Louis puts plates in front of each of them, staring with Niall, Harry to his left, and Zayn to his left, and Liam to his. Louis takes his own seat in between Niall and Liam.

“It looks great,” Liam says, slicing up the food on Zayn’s plate into smaller pieces. 

“So good,” Niall compliments with a mouth full of food. “My dad makes the best dinners, Liam. He really does.” 

Louis smiles at his son, grateful that Niall is attempting to talk him up in order to impress Liam. 

“Well maybe we’ll have to come over more often then,” Liam says, smiling at Louis. 

Zayn is nodding his head, stuffing food in his mouth as he smiles at Harry. “We can play,” Zayn says, addressing Harry.

Niall stops, glaring at Zayn as he talks to Harry and Harry responds in an excited way. Louis uses his free hand to reach up and brush his fingers through the hair at the nape of Niall’s neck, he feels Niall relax under his touch, smiling up at Louis before he goes back to eating. 

Louis feels himself letting out a deep breathing as the meal carries on; everything is easy and calm among the five of them. Everyone is getting along and even Harry is including Niall in his conversation with Zayn when Liam isn’t asking Niall questions. He watches the four of them as they interact, feeling so utterly and completely happy to know that everyone is getting along, that the two most important people in his world are being kind to the man he wants to get to know more, the man he knows he’s developing feelings for. The man with the gentle brown eyes and sincere smile who’s put up with Louis inability to understand appropriate behavior around the same sex, the man he has a giant teenage crush on. Louis is so fucking happy that everything is going smoothly. 

He knows that Harry hates when he dates, and that if it were up to Harry known of this would be happening because Louis would spend his life as a single parent living in celibacy but he’s being civil, at least for tonight, and that means the world to Louis. And he knows that Niall has animosity towards Zayn because of the fact he’s gathering up all of Harry’s attention, all of the attention that he wants on him but he’s not acting on it because he doesn’t want to ruin anything for Louis. And Louis…Louis really loves his kids. 

“Hey.” Louis is shaken out of his thoughts, turning to see Liam smiling softly at him. “This is really great,” he says, and Louis feels as Liam runs his knuckles along the outside of his thighs. 

“We can do it more often,” Louis suggests, aiming for casual. “If you’d want.” 

“Yeah, of course,” Liam says, still smiling as he puts food in his mouth and begins chewing. 

And Louis can’t help the fond look that spreads across his face as he looks at Liam because Louis…Louis really likes Liam.


	11. Chapter 11

It’s a week since Liam and Zayn had come over for dinner, a week since Liam has finally showed a clear interest in Louis. It’s been a constant stream of talking back and forth, texting and chatting on the phone, Liam initiating some of it and not just Louis. He feels better about the entire situation, a part of him relaxing about the situation. He no longer feels the need to be everywhere that Liam is, he wishes he could be, but he no longer finds himself popping up randomly just to see Liam, just to make sure that Liam can’t forget him. 

Louis feels more secure about the entire situation, knowing that Liam actually likes him back, at least a little bit. He’s also eternally grateful that Liam wasn’t scared off by anything Louis does because Louis really isn’t good at the whole boyfriends thing, not that he and Liam are boyfriends but it looks like it’s going there, hopefully. Louis has no idea what he’s doing but he’s glad that Liam is capable of playing along. 

And while Louis hasn’t done anything crazy lately, he still finds himself working his way through Liam’s grocery store trying to stock up the food supply that has diminished in a week’s time at his house. He’s here strictly for groceries but if he sees Liam, well, that’s just an added perk. 

Louis is in the middle of stuffing his cart with food when he sees Liam approaching, walking down the aisle with his lips upturned as he gets closer and closer. Louis doesn’t say anything, just tosses some bread into his cart as Liam comes to stand next to him.

“What are you doing here?” Liam asks, amused, his eyes crinkled as he smiles at Louis. 

“I actually needed food this time,” Louis says, smiling at Liam. “Niall and Harry have had friends over this week and they’ve completely wiped out my back stock of foods that I’ve acquired. You should be careful with your story, teenage boys can be deadly. Well and not teenage boys. Plus coming to your store means the added perk of seeing your cute little face.”

Liam falters, smiling at Louis. “I guess that’s a good reason to shop.” 

“It’s the best reason,” Louis says, pushing his cart and motioning for Liam to walk with him. “I haven’t been to see you here in a long time, and that doesn’t include seeing you through the windows when I’m picking up Harry. I’ve been playing nice and trying to keep my distance.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Liam says. 

“You’re already interested in me so it’s easier now to keep away,” Louis says, winking. “I’ve got to keep you interested.” 

“That…well—I mean, seeing you helps, but you don’t have to hide from me. It’s kind of nice when you just pop in, a bit overwhelming at first and you know when it happens a lot but I don’t mind seeing you here.” 

“You’re too sweet, Liam, and I’m not going to take advantage of that. Besides, I think Harry would kill me if he had to see me around here a lot. He hasn’t said anything since when you came over for dinner but you haven’t been around much so that’s probably why.”

“Oh, I wasn’t, like, avoiding you or anything,” Liam says. 

“I know, I’m only saying that Harry hasn’t said anything because of it. Not implying anything.” 

“Well, maybe we could change that soon? I know you’ve been busy with your class and I’ve been busy with the store but the weekend is coming so we could see each other then, right?”

“Of course,” Louis says. “I was going to come up with something to get to see you again but now I don’t have to. I’ll have to check the boys’ schedules and see what’s coming up, but Saturday should be okay.”

“Saturday, perfect. Okay that’s great, um, I’ve got to go finish some paperwork,” Liam says regretfully, pointing behind him. “I’m almost set to go home and I promised Zayn that we’d spend the evening together, the new Power Rangers movie is on tonight and he’s really excited about it.” 

“Okay,” Louis says, grabbing Niall’s favorite cereal off the shelf. 

“I’ll call you though, if that’s okay with you. I could do it while I’m making dinner or something since Zayn usually goes and plays while I do that. I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

“Yeah, yeah of course,” Louis says, smiling at Liam. 

“Perfect, well, I’ll talk to you soon,” Liam says, smiling before turning around and making his way towards the back of the store. 

Louis watches him go, waits until he’s out of sight before he goes back to shopping.

~~~ 

Louis is unpacking the groceries when he hears noises coming from down the hall. He can’t make out what it is, can register that there is music wafting out from one of the bedrooms, probably Harry’s. He listens to it, wondering why both of his children are locked in their bedrooms while he was away. 

He finishes putting the food away when the noises become clearer, he can hear Harry talking followed by the sound of a giggle. Louis frowns, not recognizing the sound of the laugh. He closes the pantry door, turning and making his way down the hall towards the bedrooms, the sound of the giggles getting louder as he gets closer to Harry’s door. It’s closed and when Louis is standing directly in front of it is when he hears no more giggles but the sound of a female voice. 

Louis bangs on the door, alerting the two of them of his presence as he pushes the door open, stunned into silence when he sees Harry and a girl with brunette hair, fading into blonde at the end, lying in his bed under the blankets. 

“Dad,” Harry shouts, jumping out of the bed. “Um, what are you doing here?”

“I live here,” Louis says, watching as the girl casually steps out of Harry’s bed, adjusting her skirt as she stands up, slipping on a pair of heels that are on the floor next to the bed. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders and running a hand through his curls. “Just listening to music.”

“Yeah, well I think the listening party is over. You should head home,” Louis says, turning to look at the girl. 

“Right,” she says. “I’ll see you at school, Harry.”

Louis steps aside so she can brush past him, turning to glare at Harry before he follows her towards the entrance of the house. He can hear Harry behind him and Louis makes sure to stay in between the two teenagers as the girl slips out of the house, a small wave in Harry’s direction as she goes. 

“Who was that?” Louis asks as soon as the door closes, the girl disappearing. 

“Caroline,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders to make his way back towards his bedroom. 

“No, sorry, come back here. Now. Please,” Louis demands, pointing towards the couch. 

Harry huffs, turning back, shuffling across the floor and dropping down on the couch. “What?”

“You brought a girl into my house, took her into your bedroom and did god knows what and you’re asking me what I could possibly want from you?”

“It’s not a big deal,” Harry says, glancing up at Louis. 

“No, I’m afraid that it’s a very big deal because this is the same girl that you broke curfew to be with, this is also the same girl that you tried to sneak out and see. And now this is the girl that you locked yourself in your bedroom with while no one is home. Wait, no one is home,” Louis says, glancing around the house, trying to find a sign of his youngest son. Niall’s shoes are missing from the entrance, his jacket not on its normal hook, no sports or movie playing on the television. 

“What are you looking for? She left, you watched her walk out the front door,” Harry says. 

“No, I’m not worried about her. Where’s Niall?”

“I sent him to Sean’s,” Harry says in reply, folding his arms over his chest. 

“You sent your brother away because you wanted to be in the house alone with a girl?” Harry doesn’t answer, merely shrugs in shoulders in reply. “Are you kidding me Harry?”

“He wanted to go out so I told him that it would be fine. I told him to be back here by eight, I didn’t think you’d care; he goes to Sean’s all the time. And is it such a problem because I brought back a girl? I didn’t want to sit here alone. Would you be losing your shit like this if it were a boy? Probably not.”

“No, I would. I don’t care if you want to be with a girl or a boy but you’re not going to do it in my house. I don’t want you alone, locked in your bedroom with anyone when I’m not home, especially someone who makes you kick your little brother out of the house so you can be alone.”

“She didn’t make me kick him out,” Harry says, rolling his eyes. 

“Oh whatever, you did it on your own, who cares. The point is that you’re not allowed to have anyone in your room with the door locked when you’re home alone. What would have happened had I not come home?”

“Nothing,” Harry says, sighing deeply. 

“No, nothing happened because I came home. Enlighten me on what would have happened if I wasn’t here,” Louis says, dropping down on the couch next to Harry. 

“I told you nothing. Nothing would have happened. Nothing. We were in my room and that’s it, the door wasn’t even locked. Why would I lock the door when no one is home?”

Louis takes a deep breath, trying to level his heart rate as he sits down next to his son on the couch. He can’t even remember if the door was locked or not, the only thing he remembers is the sounds of a girl giggling and finding his son, his little Harry, in bed with a girl. He doesn’t remember anything, just the flash of emotions that are rushing through his body. 

“Maybe the door wasn’t locked but that doesn’t change what I just saw,” Louis says, turning to look at Harry. “Maybe we should talk about what happened in there or what could have happened.”

“I am not having this conversation,” Harry says, shaking his head adamantly. “I’m not going to listen to you talk about sex. You don’t even know anything about having sex with girls.”

“I, well, I know the basics. I know that you need a condom because I refuse to be a grandfather at this age and you’re not going to be a father at this age. Over my dead body.”

“We weren’t having sex,” Harry protests. “We weren’t even going to try and have sex. There wasn’t going to be any sex. None. I don’t, please stop bringing this up. I don’t want to talk about it.” 

“Harry, I’m not stupid, I know what happens when two people go into a bedroom and lock themselves inside of it. You were lying down with her, under the blankets. I—Harry, believe me when I say that I know what happens in situations like that. I might not have been able to produce a child with someone but that doesn’t mean I’m clueless.”

“We’re not going to talk about this, please stop talking,” Harry says, dropping his head into his hands. 

“You have to talk about it with someone and who better than me. I’m your father and if you’re into girls then that’s fine. I don’t care who you like, but you can’t have someone in this house when I’m gone. I don’t want to not trust you anymore. You have plenty of friends and you’re old enough that you should be able to have them over even if I’m not home.” 

“If I promise not to do it again can you please shut up?” 

“I’m not going to shut up, Harry. We need to talk about this.”

“No, we really don’t,” Harry says, shaking his head again. “I won’t be seeing Caroline anymore so you can relax.”

“Why won’t you be seeing her anymore?” Louis asks, confused. 

“Probably because she’s a senior and my father just tried to break down my bedroom door and then kicked her out. Probably, and by probably I mean most definitely.”

“She’s a senior,” Louis shouts. “That’s too old for you, are you out of your mind?”

“You’re stalking my boss, what do you know about having a sane mind?” Harry retorts. 

Louis’ phone ringing breaks up their argument, he takes a deep breath, watching as Harry glares at him. “Go to your room,” Louis says, reaching into his pocket for his phone. “Don’t lock the door, don’t even close it. Just go in there.”

“Whatever,” Harry says, standing up from the couch. “I’m not going to talk about this with you anymore. I said nothing happened and you need to trust me.”

“Hello?” Louis snaps, answering the phone, watching as Harry stomps back towards his bedroom. 

“Oh…is this a bad time?”

It’s Liam and Louis feels bad that he answered snappishly. He swallows his anger, swallows his worry to reply. “No, no it’s fine. Just… a lot going on here.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. 

“Okay,” Liam says slowly. “Well, I won’t push it, but if you want to tell anyone then I’ll listen.”

“It’s just this, I get home, I’ve barely finished putting away the groceries when I hear Harry in his room, the house is quiet other than Harry and then I hear a girl. She’s giggling and going crazy and I go to check on them and I open the door to find them in bed together. I make her leave and she has to adjust her skirt, she had to adjust her skirt, Liam, do you understand that? As soon as she leaves I try talking to Harry and he won’t listen to me. He doesn’t listen to anything and he’s mad at me but Liam, he had a girl in the house, in his bedroom,” Louis says, taking a deep breath when he’s finished explaining it all. 

“Isn’t that a normal part of being a teenager, having a girl over or boy and getting caught by your parents?” Liam asks. 

“I guess,” Louis says, running a hand through his hair. “Is it too late to make him a baby again? He was the sweetest baby. He was perfect, bright green eyes and the cutest head of curls you’ve ever seen. He was so happy, always laughing and smiling. He’s the biggest ham; he’d always be showing off for the camera whether it was videos or pictures. He just loved it, and he was never upset about anything unless I tried to leave him for work or dates or to drop him off with someone else. He was so precious and now he’s—now he’s off with girls and they’re in his bed and who knows whose bed he’s in.” 

“He’s still the same, he’s just going through a lot right now. It has nothing to do with you, but he’s older now. He’s discovering girls and sometimes this stuff happens.” 

“I’m not going to allow her into the house when I’m not home and they’re snuggled up in bed together. I’m grateful that he’s not doing anything crazy or worse but I don’t like it,” Louis huffs into the phone. 

“You don’t have to like it, but that won’t stop it from happening. Just take a deep breath and maybe tomorrow you can both talk about it with clear heads.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s not you, I just…it’s too much. I feel like my brain is going to pound out of my skull and spew out all over the floor and that’d be another mess that I have to clean up,” Louis says, leaning back into the couch. “Let’s talk about something else. How is it over at your house?” 

“It’s good,” Liam says. “I bought Zayn the special macaroni that has Power Ranger shaped noodles. He was really excited about it. It’s finished, and I’m waiting for the chicken to finish so we can eat. He’s been bouncing around since I got him from my mom’s house, he’s got his dolls all sat on the couch, waiting for the movie to start. It’s not on for another 45 minutes but he’s ready.”

“That’s cute,” Louis says, picturing little Zayn overcome with excitement at the thought of a movie coming on television. He remembers when his boys used to get excited about things like that. Harry doesn’t appear excited about much these days and Niall has turned into a sport fiend. “What else do you have planned for the night?”

“Ice cream,” Liam says, and Louis hears metal clanking around in the background. “I convinced him that Power Rangers really love ice cream. He said they’d want a cake, but I don’t have the skill to make a cake that looks like a Power Ranger like we had for his birthday.”

“Power Rangers used to be my favorite when I was a kid, the red one is the best.”

“Zayn thinks so too.”

“That’s because he’s smart like me.”

“You’re a right genius aren’t you?” Louis hears a commotion in the background on Liam’s end, the sound of Zayn’s little voice in the background. “I’ve got to go, our dinner is finished and Zayn is getting antsy waiting for the Power Rangers,” Liam laughs into the phone. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Yeah, okay, and Liam?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for listening and distracting me from what happened tonight.”

“I do what I can,” Liam says. “Bye Louis.”

Louis hangs up the phone, tossing it onto the table in front of the couch. He takes a deep breath before he pulls himself up, heading towards the kitchen to get dinner ready for the night.


	12. Chapter 12

Liam doesn’t know what came over him, inviting Louis over to spend the evening with him and Zayn. He hadn’t been thinking when he asked, instead he was preoccupied with listening as Louis rambled on about how both Niall and Harry were going out for the night, that he was going to spend the night in, cleaning or just being lazy and watching television. He didn’t sound like he was trying to get Liam to invite him over, he sounded happy with being able to spend the night alone. But Liam, listening to Louis talk as he watched Zayn play with the granddaughter of the couple across the street, found himself thinking that tonight would be one of the best night’s to ask Louis to come over, which is what he did in the middle of Louis’ rant about how it’ll be the first night in a long time that he gets to decide what movie will be watched. 

Louis was surprised at first, asking Liam if he was sure before his excitement began to show, which is the exact moment that Liam’s panic began to set in. 

They’ve never been at Liam’s house before, Liam’s always the one to extend invitations to Louis, minus the night they spent in Louis’ house, all five of them together, but he hadn’t thought he’d be inviting Louis’ over to his house to spend time alone with him and Zayn. 

He had gotten off the phone with Louis’ shortly after, telling him to come over at five, which is in fifteen minutes. 

Liam is currently fussing around his house, trying to straighten up what is already straightened up. Zayn’s napping on the couch, little body wrapped in the blanket they keep draped over it, tired and worn out from spending the afternoon playing. He’s rushing around his house, kicking things under the couch that don’t belong there and could easily be picked up and put in their proper place around the living room. 

The doorbell rings in the middle of Liam’s cleaning, he has a towel in one hand and a bottle of cleaner in the other. He rushes back towards the kitchen, throwing them in the cabinet under the sink before going back into the living room. Zayn is waking up; Liam helps him out of the blanket, picking him up, and making his way to answer the door. He pulls it open and Louis’ smiles at them brightly. 

“Hello,” Louis says in greeting as steps inside of Liam’s house. 

Liam let’s him come in, closing the door behind him. Zayn’s looking at Louis in confusion, turning his head to look at Liam and then back again, back and forth until he says, “Where Harry?” 

Louis laughs. “He’s at a friend’s house but when I call him in ten minutes I’m sure that he will be happy to know that he’s being missed. But he won’t be joining us tonight.”

Zayn sighs, kicking at Liam’s abdomen until Liam sets him down on the floor, watching as he wanders off in the house. 

“Is he mad?” Louis asks. 

Liam glances up, turning his gaze away from Zayn to smile at Louis. “No, he’s not. He just woke up from a nap, he spent the entire day playing with the girl across the street while I watched from the front porch.”

“Were you supposed to be spying on him?” Louis asks, bouncing on his toes. 

“No, I wasn’t, but he’s young enough that he doesn’t care or notice. I’ve never met the girl, but I know her grandparents so I was a little leery about it but he had fun. Now, we should probably go and get dinner started. I haven’t had the chance to get it started.” 

“Well, you go and do that. I have a child that I need to win over,” Louis says, brushing past Liam, following the way Zayn just went. Liam watches him go, smiling at Louis’ retreating figure.

~~~

Liam spends the entirety of making dinner listening to Zayn and Louis’ playing in the living room. He can hear Zayn’s wild laughter floating through out the house during the time frame it takes him to cook the food and put it on plates. They’re loud in the other room, Liam listening as they rummage through the toy chest he keeps in there as well as a variety of other noises that Liam doesn’t want to know about, every time a noise occurs it’s followed by a ‘he’s okay’ every time a loud noise comes from the other room. It’s reassuring to know that Louis’ knows the precise moments where Liam begins to panic about the two of them in the other room making so much noise. Louis’ reassuring shouts aren’t the only thing that kept him calm, Louis made sure to enter the room every few minutes with Zayn in tow and while Zayn rattles off to Liam all the things that they’re doing and building, Louis stands in the corner, talking to one of his sons on the phone.

Liam calls them in when he’s finished, shouting that it’s ready. They enter the kitchen with Zayn in Louis’ arms talking about why monkeys are better than rabbits; a topic that Liam doesn’t want to know how got started. Louis smiles when he sees him, continuing to talk to Zayn while keeping an eye on Liam. 

“Everything is ready, we just need to wash our hands,” Liam says, flipping on the water to the sink so he can begin his own. Louis helps Zayn before he does his own, still holding onto Zayn. 

“Dada, we eat in there,” Zayn says, pointing towards the living room.   
“Hmm,” Liam says, glancing between Louis’ wide smile and Zayn’s hopeful expression. “Is there a reason we can’t eat at the table tonight?”

“We want watch movie,” Zayn says. 

“It was my idea,” Louis says, biting his lip as he shuts off the water. “It’s okay if we can’t. Zayn we can do that after dinner, yeah?”

Zayn sighs again, letting out a deep breath. “Okay.”

“No, we can watch a movie and eat. It’s not a big deal, but tomorrow night we’re going to eat in at the table, like we always do. It can’t be a habit, all right?”

Zayn smiles, reaching his arms out for Liam to take him from Louis, and wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck when he does so he can give Liam a kiss. 

Liam knows when he’s being worked over, knows when his son is happy to get his way. It’s not often that Zayn asks for or does things that are against the rules, and Liam has a hard time saying no to him, always giving in when Zayn wants something. Watching television while they eat is something that they do on special occasions, like when the Power Rangers movie is on every once in a while, or when Zayn has a bad day and needs something special to cheer him up like a movie with dinner and a little bowl of ice cream afterwards. Liam knows that it’s important to keep these things spaced out so Zayn can learn to appreciate it but with Louis here, Liam thinks this is special enough for a movie with dinner. 

“You’re the best, Liam Payne,” Louis says, smiling at him. 

Liam shrugs his shoulders, hands Louis two plates, taking one into his own hand as they walk towards the television in the other room. 

“Zayn Payne,” Zayn says, nodding his head. “I’m Zayn Payne.” 

“Yes you are, good job,” Liam praises, setting down the plate as he puts Zayn in between them. Louis pushes the plate with the least amount of food into the middle before he sits down on Zayn’s other side. 

“What are we going to watch?” Liam asks, grabbing for the remote. 

“I don’t know,” Zayn says, shrugging his shoulders as he puts a bit of food in his mouth, standing up and leaning against the back of the couch. “Power Rangers.”

“I happen to love Power Rangers,” Louis says, very serious and capturing Zayn’s attention while Liam goes through their recorded movies. “I was in love with them when I was a kid, and for the longest time that’s what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be the red one. Your dad says that he’s your favorite, too. Maybe we can both be the red one.”

“Really? Wow,” Zayn says, fascinated, probably losing Louis in the middle of what he was saying, just knowing that they’re talking about one of his favorite things in the world. 

“If we’re all done talking about Power Rangers, maybe we can watch them,” Liam suggests, getting a yes from the two other boys as he presses play. 

It’s the worst date movie that Liam has ever watched with someone he has interest in, but he can’t be worried about it because Zayn is happy and that’s more important than trying to impress Louis with a sophisticated taste in movies that doesn’t exist. The truth is that if it were just the two of them, Liam would have chosen a movie that he found online via recommendations from people he doesn’t know about how to impress your date, because Liam tends to only watch cartoon or superhero movies through his own choice rather than a suggestion from his son. He would have also made a fancier meal, something where they would have had to sit at the table, surrounded by low lighting and fancy music he also heard about online instead of sitting on the hard floor of his house, trying not to get hit Zayn as he bounces around on the floor. 

But this date is a reality of Liam’s life, a glimpse into the world he lives in a day-to-day basis rather than a façade. He thinks Louis likes this better than he would have liked Liam’s grown up date. 

Liam spends the entire meal pretending that he doesn’t feel Louis’ legs wrapping around his own under the table, and trying not to blush at the looks Louis is giving him from behind Zayn’s back. 

~~~ 

It’s a little after nine and Zayn is fast asleep on the couch, having fallen asleep almost an hour ago. Liam and Louis stayed in the living room with him, talking in hushed voices, sitting close together for a little over an hour until Louis had said it was time for him to head home. Liam swallows his disappointment as he followed Louis towards the door.

“Are you sure that you have to leave right now?” Liam asks, leaning against the wall as he watches Louis put his jacket on. 

Louis smiles at him sadly, nodding his head as he adjusts his arms in the sleeves. “I’m afraid so. I have to pick up Niall and Harry.” 

“Harry’s curfew is nine-fifteen?”

“No, Niall’s is nine-thirty, but when you try and act like a big boy by bringing a girl home when you’re alone while still living with your father then you get stuck with having the same rules as your younger brother. I can’t trust him when he’s grounded because he’d have been either with us, complaining about how awful his life is or, he’d be at home, sneaking girls into my house. So we got the best option, which is going out but coming in at nine thirty as well as me telling Nick’s parents that I’d like for him to remain indoors along with calling him randomly to make sure he’s doing okay,” Louis says, smiling widely, stepping closer to Liam. 

“So that’s why you’ve been on the phone so much tonight, well, we could have just pushed this back,” Liam says, watching Louis carefully. “You didn’t have to come over tonight.”

“No I did because I wanted to be here, it’s an added bonus that Harry gets to be embarrassed in front of his friends.”

“I’m happy that you’re here, really happy,” Liam says. 

Liam watches as Louis’ expression lights up, stuffing his hands in his pockets and smiling up at Liam. He doesn’t know what comes over him but he finds himself leaning forward and pressing his mouth against Louis’. He goes slow at first, just pressing his mouth against Louis’, bringing a hand up to cup Louis’ jaw before he moves his mouth slowly. 

They pull away and when Liam begins to panic that he should have asked first, he shouldn’t have just assumed that Louis would want to kiss him. He pulls away; dread swirling around in his stomach, ready to apologize profusely for pushing himself onto Louis when he sees that Louis is smiling at him, almost blindingly.

“I’ve been waiting for you to kiss me, Liam Payne,” Louis says, poking Liam in the stomach. “I’ve been waiting for you to kiss me since you called me into work about Harry’s poor work behavior.”

“Sorry for making you wait,” Liam says, feeling like he should apologize for something, if not the kiss then for the wait.

“You should be. I thought that I’d be old, and weathered, and grayed by the time you worked up the nerve. I thought that my children would be out of the house, married with their own family and there would be a slew of little children calling me their grandfather by the time you kissed me. I didn’t want to kiss you first because you scare easy but I was getting worried that my devilishly handsome good looks wouldn’t be enough for you when my hair is grey and I’ve got wrinkles. Do I have wrinkles from the waiting? Are they bad?” Louis asks, staring up at Liam, pointing at his forehead. 

Liam shuts up him up by leaning in to kiss him again, not concerned with if he should ask or not.


	13. Chapter 13

Liam watches Harry from across the store, watches as he checks out customers at his register, doing his job like nothing is wrong. Liam has a crate full of boxed foods that he needs to put away. He could have easily asked one of the employees to put it away, there is a pile of papers on his desk that need to be looked at, orders that need to be placed, but right now he can’t take his eyes off of Harry. He’s worried about being alone in his office, not wanting the teenager to burst inside and yell at him for kissing Louis, which is why he’s…well, spying to put it simply. 

It’s been three days since he kissed Louis, three days that Louis has had to tell the entire world that Liam finally kissed him. Louis isn’t the quiet type, doesn’t keep anything to himself, and doesn’t hide anything from his children so Liam knows that Louis probably mentioned it to Niall and Harry. He’s tried asking him through text, sending him casual messages, trying to get Louis to let him know in advance if he’s going to be mauled by a teenager when he shows up at work. But so far Harry hasn’t even looked at Liam, well he has, but only to send Liam the occasional dirty look for staring. 

He’s putting boxed noodles on the shelf, watching Harry as he places the boxes blindly down when a voice behind him startles him. 

“What are you doing?”

Liam jumps, dropping the box in his hand as he turns around, clutching his chest to see Niall standing there, laughing with his head thrown back. 

“What are you doing?” Liam asks, bending down to pick up the box and shoving it onto the shelf. 

Niall composes himself, wiping at his eyes to catch stray tears from laughing so hard. “I’m here to buy stuff. Why else do you come to the grocery store?”

Liam stares at him, half tempted to reply and say that if he’s anything like his father then he’s looking for romance but instead he settles with, “does you father know that you’re here by yourself?”

“I’m not by myself,” Niall says. “Sean and his mom are in here somewhere, I got this chocolate,” he holds a bar of chocolate up in the air, “and I was going back to them but then I saw you. I’ve got allowance money so I wanted to buy some chocolate. My dad said no, but it’s my money so he can’t say no anymore.”

“Sneaky,” Liam says, smiling at Niall, shoving another box of noodles onto the shelf. 

“How come you haven’t seen my dad lately?” Niall asks, tilting his head. 

Liam stills, hoping that Niall, or more importantly Louis, doesn’t think that he’s avoiding anyone, Harry maybe, but not the two of them. “Oh, I’ve been wanting to see you guys, Zayn too, but we’ve been busy and I thought it was best to not come over everyday but I’ve talked to your father. He’s mentioned that, right? Because it’s been happening.” 

Niall looks at Liam carefully, studying him for a moment. “You kissed my dad,” Niall says, smiling. 

“Right, um, yes,” Liam says, fumbling with the boxes of noodles in his hands as he tries to put them on the shelf. “Did he tell you that?”

“No,” Niall says, shaking his head. “I guessed. He said that you kissed him on the cheek once, but he didn’t say anything else. I thought that maybe you were kissing him a lot. Don’t adults kiss a lot?” 

“Well, you should play the lottery or something with guesswork that good, but some might kiss a lot. We don’t, well, I mean it’s only happened the once, and we’ll stop if it bothers you that much. I’m sorry,” Liam says, fumbling around for an apology, wondering if he should have asked Louis’ kids permission before he tried anything. He feels hot, his palms sweating as he looks at Niall.

Niall smiles up at Liam. “It’s okay,” Niall says, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s pretty disgusting but you’re an adult so you do a lot of disgusting stuff. I didn’t tell Harry that I guessed you kissed. He hates you, but maybe I could tell him later.”

“Yes, well, that is true, but you don’t have to tell him. It’s…well; it’s a bit of a secret, like, between your father and me. Harry doesn’t need to know. Maybe we can wait for him to guess, yeah? I don’t want him to hate me anymore. It’s…well; it’s hard to deal with sometimes. You don’t—I mean, do you hate me?”

“I don't hate you.”

“Niall!”

Liam glances up, sees a short woman with dark hair approaching with a kid that looks around Niall’s age following behind her. She stops when she reaches them, glaring at Liam before turning to Niall. 

“You were supposed to come right back. You’re not supposed to talk to strange men,” she says, turning to glare at Liam. 

Liam’s about to protest, holding his hands up and shaking his head, wants the woman to know that he’s not some kind of child luring pervert, that he doesn’t spend all his time in grocery stores trying to find little boys to converse with about if they hate him or not, but Niall beats him to it. 

“No, it’s okay,” Niall says, shaking his head at the woman. “This is Liam, he’s my dad’s new boyfriend. I’m allowed to talk to him, he’s not anyone I don’t know.” 

Boyfriend. 

Liam freezes, staring down at Niall as he tries to smile at the mother of his friend, can feel his mouth twitching as he tries to work out a smile. She eyes him carefully, studying him, asking him if Niall is telling the truth. 

Boyfriend, he thinks again, feeling his heart rate increase. 

He nods his head, trying to listen to woman and Niall having a conversation, Niall’s friend adding his own input every few seconds. Liam’s never met him before, guesses that his name is Sean since it’s one of the few names he’s heard before, while he tries not panic at the word boyfriend. 

“Liam,” Niall says, reaching up to wave his hand in front of Liam’s face. “I’m going to go now, I want Harry to be able to ring me up before he leaves, so I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Yeah, later,” Liam says, smiling. “Wait, Niall I’m going to bring Harry home tonight, do you want to go back with us or?”

“Oh,” Niall says, looking between Liam and Sean, a frown pulling on his lips as he tries to decide. 

“Go with your friend,” Liam says, smiling at Niall. “Don’t worry about it, see you later.”

Liam watches as Niall skips away, bar of chocolate in his hands as he rushes to Harry’s register, sees his beaming smile when he stops in front of Harry. Liam watches the two of them for a moment. 

Boyfriend, he thinks again, watching as Harry rolls his eyes at Niall. 

Liam pulls out his phone, pulling open a message to Louis and types, Can I come over for a little bit after work? I’ll bring Harry home.

He doesn’t wait for Louis’ answer, knows that he’ll reply with an immediate yes followed by a million and three smiley faces

~~~

Driving Harry home is as uneventful as it was before, Harry grumbles at him for a while before he ignores him completely. Liam doesn’t try to break the silence, doesn’t want to give Harry another reason to dislike him, but a part of Liam is itching to find out if Harry knows about what happened between him and Louis, the other part of him doesn’t want to know if Harry knows at all, worried that Harry will produce something out of his pocket to break over Liam’s head. 

But most importantly, he wonders if Harry thinks of Liam as Louis’ boyfriend like Niall does. 

Boyfriend, Liam thinks as he shuts the car off, pulling to a stop in Louis’ driveway. He’s barely pulled the key out when Harry jumps out of the car, slamming the door in the process. Liam glances over sees Louis stepping out of the house moments after Harry disappears inside, he leans against banister at the top of the stairs, tilting his head to the side as he looks at Liam inside the car. 

Liam steps out of the car, shoving his keys in his pocket as he makes his way towards Louis. He leans forward when he’s in front of Louis and presses a kiss to the other boy’s cheek; he pulls away to see Louis frowning at him. 

“What’s that about?” Louis asks. Liam feels exposed under his glance, like Louis can see through him.

“What is what about?” Liam asks, feigning ignorance. 

“You kissed me last night, more than once, for several minutes and now you’re back to my cheek and you’re staring at my house, which is behind me, instead of looking at me. What is that about?”

“That all sounds bad, but it’s not bad… Or, at least it shouldn’t be bad. Niall came to the story today, and he well, he bought chocolate, he said that you didn’t want him to but you should be warned, don’t tell him that I told you, but he bought the chocolate and he ran into me when I was restocking some of the shelves. I was just doing my job and we were talking, but Sean’s mom kind of thought that maybe I was a pervert, which I’m not, you know—I mean, you know that, right?”

“Yes, Liam,” Louis says, rolling his eyes and Liam is reminded of Harry. “I know that you’re not a pervert. Is that what this is about? You’re afraid to kiss me on my porch because my son’s friend’s mother thought you were a pervert?” 

“No, no,” Liam says, shaking his head. “He said that—well, she called me a strange guy and he said ‘no, that’s my dad’s boyfriend’ and that…um, that well, he said that word, the boyfriend title one.”

“And is there a problem with that?” Louis asks, folding his arms over his chest as he glares at Liam. 

“It’s not a problem but it’s not—we’re not boyfriends. Are we? Did you decide that?” 

Louis rolls his eyes, a trait that Liam thinks is inherited in the Tomlinson men. Louis’ arms are still folded over his chest defensively and Liam feels panic bubble in his stomach as the other man stares at him. Liam kicks his feet against the wood beneath it nervously as he studies Louis carefully. 

“No, I didn’t decide anything and I didn’t tell my son that you were my boyfriend. You see, Liam, he’s ten years old and in his mind everything is black and white, there isn’t any grey so when he hears that I’m going out on dates with someone, he believes that means that they’re my boyfriend, because he doesn’t understand that dates don’t always equal boyfriend status. He doesn’t think that you can date someone without being someone’s boyfriend. He made that assumption without my help. And no, I didn’t decide that we were anything more than what we are.”

“Right, okay, well. I had thought, you know, but I wasn’t sure,” Liam says, noticing Harry watching the two of them through the front window, glaring at Liam. 

“If that’s all then I think that I’m going to go inside because you’re being really weird and I think that you need to work through that before we see each other again because… Liam, if my son mentioning the word boyfriend freaks you out then maybe you should take some time to figure out what it is you want exactly, okay?” Louis says, smiling sadly at Liam before he turns around to walk back into the house. 

It takes Liam a second to realize what this could mean, and a second to realize that if Louis walks into the house that nothing good could come out of it. 

“No, Louis wait,” Liam says, reaching out and grabbing Louis by the arm, turning him back around so he’s looking at Liam again. “It’s not bad. I’m not angry about it. It’s just…I thought that I’d have to ask you, like, properly. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? You’re supposed to ask them, whoever it is, or at least sit down and discuss it. We never said that anything was official or exclusive so I wasn’t sure. For all I knew, you’ve been seeing other people.”

“Are you?” Louis asks, trying to pull away from Liam. 

“No,” Liam says, firm, grabbing tighter to Louis. “I’m not. I swear. It’s just you.” 

“Just me,” Louis repeats, nodding his head. “It’s okay if you are or, like, want to or something. I don’t mind.”

“No, god, no. It’s just you for a reason. I’m not the type of person to do something like that; I don’t know how to do something like that. I’m happy with what I have right now. It was just…a surprise to hear Niall say that, not because I didn’t want it but because I do. God, this is hard to talk about with Harry staring at me like that, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if people were to think that we were boyfriends. Or, you know, if we actually were,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders, trying to keep his gaze away from Harry who looks like he’s trying to kill Liam with his eyes. 

“Is that because it would be the best thing in the world?” Louis asks, batting his eyelashes at Liam, taking a step closer to stick his hands in Liam’s pockets. 

Liam breathes a sigh of relief, almost drops to the ground as the weight is lifted off his shoulders at being back on good terms with Louis. He’s horrible at understanding Louis’ flirting or advances, but he understand when Louis is happy with someone, knows when he’s not on someone’s shit list.

“Harry still in the window?” Louis asks. 

Liam peeks behind Louis’ shoulder, sees that Harry has abandoned his position form where he was spying on them. “No, he’s gone,” Liam says, looking back at Louis. 

“Good, because you owe me a kiss, yeah?”

“I’d reckon so,” Liam says, leaning forward to slot his mouth against Louis’. 

He feels like a teenager again, bringing his hands up to cup Louis’ cheeks as he presses him into the wall of the house. Louis’ kisses like he’s been doing it his entire life, or he should be, with Liam at least. The longer their lips move together the more Liam is able to feel it spread through out his body, lighting up the darkest corners. 

He could kiss Louis all day, if he could, but he can’t, not when they’re outside, pressed against Louis’ house with Harry inside and the neighbors so close. Liam’s doesn’t know where Niall is, or when he’ll be home but he does know that he needs to pick up Zayn, needs to get to his mother’s before she begins to worry. 

He pulls away regretfully, kissing Louis softly one last time, his hands still on Louis’ cheeks when he says. “I need to get Zayn, I was supposed to have gotten him a half hour ago.”

“But you came here,” Louis says, finishing Liam’s train of thought before he can say it. “That’s fine.” 

“We’re—we’re okay, right?”

“Yes,” Louis says, smiling at Liam, mouth spread wide to show off his teeth. “We’re excellent.”

“Okay, good.” Liam scans his eyes over Louis’ face, smiling at him. “I really have to go,” he says, pulling away completely, “but I’ll take you out tomorrow. I’ll bring Zayn over and we can go out again, just the two of us.”


	14. Chapter 14

“Harry,” Louis calls, sticking his head out of his bedroom. “Niall, too, come here.” He hears a groan come from Harry’s bedroom, and the television in the living room paused before he catches sight of both of his son’s. 

“What?” They both ask at the same time and Louis beams at the two of them.

“I need help picking out something to wear.” 

“Clothes usually work pretty well,” Harry says, leaning against his doorframe, the doorknob still clutched in his hand like he’s waiting to close it. 

“Thank you, Harry, that was entirely not helpful,” Louis says. 

Harry raises his eyebrows at him, shrugging his shoulders. Louis turns to look at Niall who is studying him carefully and says, “You look fine. What’s wrong with those clothes?”

Louis glances down at his body, takes in the plaid pajama bottoms, plain white shirt, and moose slippers Niall and Harry bought him a few years back for Christmas when they went shopping with Louis’ mother. It’s not a bad outfit, but it’s not his best outfit, and it’s not something that he wants Liam to see him wearing, not when they just decided to be official with one another. Louis doesn’t need Liam to see his moose slippers until he’s positively sure that they’re going to last. 

“I don’t think that pajamas are the way to go today, unfortunately. Please help me.” 

Both Niall and Harry agree, following him back into his bedroom and sitting on his bed while he pulls two options out of the closet. He had been trying to figure out what to wear all morning, torn between his options until he remembered how Niall and Harry had helped him out the last time and how great he looked. 

He lays the clothes out on the bed, steps back while Harry and Niall look at them. 

“I like the red shirt and the light pants,” Niall says. 

“He can’t wear those together,” Harry says, shaking his head at Niall. “He can’t wear a bright red shirt with light khaki pants, he’ll look stupid. It doesn’t go well together so if he wears the red shirt then he’ll have to wear the jeans, and if he wants to wear the khaki pants then he’ll need to wear the blue shirt.” 

“I don’t like the jeans, he wears jeans all the time,” Niall says. 

“Are you stupid? They’re jeans, everyone wears them. You’re wearing them now,” Harry retorts. 

“Okay,” Louis says loudly, interrupting whatever Niall was about to shout back. “So no jeans, no worries. I’ll wear the khakis and the blue shirt, yeah? It’s a win-win situation for everyone. Besides, the blue shirt will bring out my eyes, and make them look even better. I bet Liam will love that.”

Louis smiles at the two of them, beaming as he picks up the clothing. Niall smiles back at him before he jumps off the bed and makes his way back towards the living room. Harry stares at him for a moment before he stands up, going into Louis’ closet, coming back out with one of Louis’ black cardigans in hand. 

“Wear a sweater,” Harry says, thrusting it into Louis’ hand. “And keep it on.”

~~~ 

Louis answers the door when he hears Liam knock, adjusting his outfit before he swings the door open, smiling at Liam. He takes a minute to admire Liam’s own outfit, his tight blue jeans, and his tight, black shirt with a tan jacket over it. Louis glares at the jacket, angry at it for covering Liam’s chest and his arms. He huffs in annoyance and realizes that the jacket isn’t the only thing wrong with what he’s looking at. There isn’t a child in Liam’s arms or next to him or anywhere in Louis’ vision. 

“You didn’t bring Zayn,” Louis says, frowning at Liam. “Why do I feel like that's a bad thing?”

“Oh, it’s not. It’s not. My parents, well my mom really, well she wanted to go see that new Disney movie that came out and felt weird going alone so she asked if she could take him, she thought he’d like it. I figured it would be okay; it would give Harry and Niall a break from him. I don’t want them to feel like they’re being used or anything.”

“Oh,” Louis says, nodding his head slowly. “Okay, um, one second.” He holds up a finger, indicating for Liam to wait for him before he backs into the house and goes to find Harry. He doesn’t have to go far, finds him leaning against the wall of the living room, obviously having listened in to what Liam and Louis were talking about. 

“I heard,” Harry says, not even bothering to hide the fact he was spying. “Does that mean that I can go out with Nick?”

“No, it doesn’t, you’re still required to watch your brother,” Louis says, patting him on the arm as he makes his way over towards Niall. “Behave,” he says, leaning down to drop a kiss to Niall’s head. Niall nods at him, his eyes never leaving the game that’s playing on television, instead he shouts, letting out a groan as he shoves back on the cushions in anger. Louis laughs at him, ruffling his hair as he goes back to the door. 

“Don’t forget to keep your sweater on,” Harry says, pretending to watch the television. 

“Don’t fight with your brother, I’d like to keep you both alive if that’s okay with you,” Louis says, stepping closer to Harry, leaning in to press a kiss to top of Harry’s head as well. “Behave, all right?”

“Just go,” Harry says, pulling away to go and sit next to Niall.

Louis ignores his son’s anger about the date, knows it’ll go away over time, chooses instead to consider this a win since Harry chose to sit next to Niall instead of hiding away in his bedroom for the remainder of the night. 

~~~

“Let’s make out in the car. Can we make out in the car?” Louis asks. 

“Isn’t that a little juvenile?” Liam says, taking his eyes off the road briefly to glance Louis, who is frowning at him. 

“Well, you’re taking me home and I have two sons at home so we can’t exactly make out there or even kiss, I think Harry would probably lose his mind if that happened in the house, so it’s either kiss in the car or go back to your house.”

“I thought we were going out on a date?” Liam asks, adorably confused. 

Louis huffs, reaching out to fiddle with the car radio. “I mean, yeah we are, but I’d rather be kissing you than be sitting in a restaurant eating. Let’s go back to your place, yeah? We can cook, eat, and kiss.”

Louis smiles, bats his eyelashes at Liam when they come to a red light and Liam turns to look at him. He stares at Louis for a moment, letting out a deep breath before he flicks on the blinker and turns to the right, making it halfway down the road before he makes a u-turn and goes back in the direction they came in. 

Louis bounces in his seat when he realizes that Liam is taking him back to his house. 

It takes ten minutes to get back to Liam’s house and Louis is practically buzzing as they pull up in the driveway. He’s out of the car as soon as it shuts off, racing to Liam’s door, and shouting for Liam to hurry. 

Liam laughs at him, opening the door and leading them inside, he shrugs off his jacket at the door and Louis takes a moment to admire the muscles in his arms. He considers taking off his sweater, remembers the warning that Harry gave him before he left. 

They go straight into the kitchen, bypassing the rest of the house so they can figure out something to eat for dinner. Louis hops on the counter while Liam works his way through the cabinets, pulling out random ingredients. 

“My own son doesn’t sit on the counters,” Liam says, looking at Louis out of the corner of his eyes, watching as Louis grins at him. 

Louis reaches out, pulls him between his legs, smirking at him. “Well, I’m special, aren’t I?”

“Yeah I’d say you are,” Liam agrees, raising a hand to brush his fingers along Louis’ cheek. 

“Oh good, because I remember that we were going to make out in your house so I’d really like to do that right about now and I have a feeling that you only kiss very special people.” 

“Oh god, what am I going to do with you?”

“Kiss me?” Louis prompts. 

Liam nods, pushing forward so he can press their lips together. 

Louis wraps his legs around him, pulling Liam closer until their chests are pressed together, Liam’s hands coming up to hold onto Louis’ jaw. 

Liam pulls away before Louis can make it dirty like he wants to, before he can lick his way into Liam’s mouth and taste him, and Louis whines at the disconnect. 

“No,” Louis says, dragging out the ‘o’, trying not to pout too much. “We were supposed to kiss for at least, god, longer than a minute. A minute. I can’t even believe it.”

“We have to start dinner,” Liam says, point towards all the food he pulled out. 

“Screw dinner,” Louis says, grabbing onto Liam’s shoulders and connecting their mouths together. 

~~~ 

“Walk me to my door,” Louis says, taking off his seat belt, twisting his body around so he can look at Liam. 

“Already planning on it,” Liam says, and that’s when Louis notices that Liam’s seatbelt is already off, his hand clutched on the handle. 

Louis smiles at him, opening his own door and waiting at the edge of the walkway for Liam, who wraps his arms around Louis’ waist, placing his hand on the small of Louis’ back as he guides them towards the door. Louis sighs as they walk, leaning against Liam as they approach the door. 

Louis puts his hand on the knob, feels that it’s still unlocked, curses his sons for not remembering to lock it while he was gone, makes a mental note to remind them the importance of locking the door, a lecture that he’s sure they’re going to love. The lights are off in the house, minus the living room where he can see Niall sat on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in his lap, shoving handfuls into his mouth. 

“You can come inside for a minute right?” Louis asks, turning around to show Liam his pout. 

“I really need to go and get Zayn, I told my mom that I didn’t want him to spend the night because I wouldn’t be out late.”

“It’s not late,” Louis protests, grabbing onto Liam’s jacket and pulling him inside as he walks backwards. He leans up to kiss Liam quickly before they’re spotted, closing the door behind them to see Niall already staring at them, leaning over the back of the couch. 

“I saw that,” Niall says, putting more popcorn in his mouth. 

“You didn’t see anything,” Louis says back, winking at Niall as he takes off his sweater.

“Mhm,” Niall says, reaching down for the remote so he can mute the television. “How was your date?”

“It was great,” Liam replies. “How did you and Harry manage?”

“Horrible, my team lost so I’ve been watching a movie. I’m banished from my room,” Niall says, huffing out a breath. 

“Why are you banished?” Louis asks, folding his arms over his chest, squinting his eyes at him. 

“Harry invited Nick over, like, an hour after you left, and they’ve been locked in his room all night. He said that if he caught at me in my room or near his that he’ll kill me,” Niall says. 

“I’m going to kill him,” Louis says, throwing his hands in the air, stomping down the hallway towards Harry’s room. He reaches Harry’s door, grabs for the doorknob and finds it locked; he lets out a bitter laugh at the fact his bedroom door can be locked but not the front. 

“Niall, I told you to stay away,” Harry shouts. 

“It’s not Niall, it’s your father. Open the door, Harry. Now.”

Louis hears cursing, hears a bunch of other noises that cause him to worry, lifting his hand up to continue his knocking. 

Harry pulls the door open, brushing a hand through his curls.

“Nick, I’ll think you’ll find that it’s time for you to go. I’m sure you remember where the front door is, please see yourself out,” Louis says, stepping to the side to allow Nick to pass. 

Harry goes to follow him so Louis sticks his arm out, blocking Harry’s exit. “Why is Nick here?”

“Invited him.”

“Why was your door locked?”

“I didn’t think it was.”

“Why did you threaten your brother in order to keep him away from the door?”

“He’s annoying and we didn’t want to hang out with a ten year old.”

Louis nods. “Same questions, different answers.”

“Those are the only answers that I can give you,” Harry says. 

“All right, new question: why are the pants you were wearing when I left lying on your floor? Only to be replaced with shorts you wear to bed, only they’re inside out,” Louis asks, noticing Harry’s jeans lying across his bedroom floor, along with his socks. Harry swallows, tugging on his pants. “Better yet, let’s talk about why you and Nick both look like you don’t know what a hair brush is.”

“Probably because you’re going crazy. I don’t know, I don’t care, because I’ve done nothing wrong. I invited Nick over; you never said we couldn’t have people over. I didn’t know I’d be breaking a law by having a friend over,” Harry says, turning around to make his way down the hall. 

Louis follows after him, trying to grab onto Harry so he can stop him from doing this in front of Niall or Liam. He needs to ask Liam to go home, wants to settle this without someone in the house that doesn’t live here, someone that Harry probably doesn’t want to know or hear about what is about to take place in the house.

“First you’re caught with a girl in your bedroom and now a boy, is this some kind of pattern? Are you trying to tell me something with this behavior?”

“It’s none of your business,” Harry says, stopping before he reaches the kitchen to look back at Louis. “I told you that nothing happened with Caroline, that’s your own problem if you don’t believe me. I’m not going to tell you anything though because no matter what you’re not going to believe me.”

“It’s not about believing you, Harry, it’s about the fact that I know what I saw, what those clues lead me to believe, and the fact that you’re not telling me anything about it just let’s me know that you’re not telling the truth.” 

“Right,” Harry says, laughing bitterly. “I forgot that you’re such a genius. What are the signs telling you then, Dad?” 

“I used to do things like this all the time when I was your age, well not all the time, but I did it once or twice, and nothing friendly was happening behind closed doors.” 

“I’m nothing like you,” Harry says back, fists clenched at his sides, his face flaming up. “I’d never want to be like you so don’t think that anything I do is a reflection of your influence, because it’s not.”

Louis closes his mouth, takes a step back when Harry’s words hit him. Harry looks at him for a moment, glances between Louis, Niall, and Liam before backs away slowly, turning around and exiting out the front door.


	15. Chapter 15

Liam turns his face away from the front door that Harry just walked out of and turns to look at Louis, his eyes are a little glassy, and Liam can see that his hands are shaking. 

“Dad,” Niall says carefully and Louis lets out a shaky breath, turning up to smile at Niall. 

“Can you get me some water?” Louis asks. 

Niall nods his head and immediately jumps off the couch, racing towards the kitchen. Liam watches Louis carefully, waits until Louis looks at him with a sad smile until he steps forward, pulling Louis into a hug. 

“Stupid question, but are you all right?” Liam asks, turning to kiss Louis’ head. 

“He didn’t mean it,” Louis says, far too reasonably. “At least I don’t think he did.”

“He didn’t,” Liam agrees. “He cares about you, but he’s fifteen and sometimes you forget what’s important when you’re that age. Plus, he’s at that age, the age where anything that connects you to your parents is the worst thing in the world, but he definitely didn’t mean it.”

Liam sees Niall standing a few feet behind them holding a glass of water in his hands, watching the Liam hold onto Louis. 

“I should probably head home,” Liam says, rubbing his hand up and down Louis’ back. “You need to talk to Harry and I’m sure that neither of you wants me here for that.” He feels Louis nod against his shoulder, feels the deep breath he lets out against his neck. 

“I’m sorry tonight ended like this,” Louis says, pulling away. 

“Don’t be sorry. I’ll call you tomorrow, yeah? Or, you can call me later, whatever you need.”

Liam smiles at Louis, turns and nods at Niall before he goes to make his way out of the house, grabbing his jacket as he walks out the door. He’s surprised when he sees Harry sitting on the front stairs, blatantly ignoring Liam. 

Liam takes a deep breath as he walks down the stairs, tries to stay as far from Harry as possible to not set the teenager off.

“Did my dad send you out here?” Harry asks, looking up and glaring at Liam. 

“No, he didn’t,” Liam says, clearing his throat. He stuffs his hands in his pockets, kicking at the dirt on the ground. “I figured it wasn’t the best time for me to be over so I was going to head home.” 

Harry nods. “My dad is probably going to pissed at me because you left.” 

“I don’t think he’ll be very angry about me leaving, he’s pretty upset in there about other things, doubt he’ll worry about whether I’m here or not,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders. “You didn’t really say anything too kind in there, you know that right?”

“Are you sure my dad didn’t send you out here? Because this sounds like the beginning to a lecture, and I’m not going to listen to you lecture me so you can impress my father,” Harry grits out. “You can fuck off.” 

Liam sighs. “I’m not going to lecture you. I’m not your father, and he wouldn’t be very happy with me if I told you off, even if you deserved it. He cares about you a whole hell of a lot more than he cares about me, which is good. I don’t want him on my side before he’s on yours, but if I lectured you then he’d kill me. Probably with his bare hands if I had to guess.” 

Harry snorts, shaking his head as he wraps his arms around his legs, pulling them up to his chest so he can rest his chin on his knees. “He’d do whatever he can to make you suffer,” he says, staring ahead instead of looking at Liam. “Slow and painful.”

“Kind of like what you did in there when you yelled at him,” Liam says, trying for casual. 

Harry narrows his eyes, turning to look at Liam. “I’m not like him.” 

“Unfortunately you are even if you don’t want to be, not in every way, but I see a lot of him in you. And I know you don’t want to hear that but it doesn’t make it any less true.” Harry glares at him, turning away to stare back at nothing. “I know that you don’t want to hear from me, and I don’t want to make any assumptions about your life or what you’re going through, because it’s not my job to know those things, but you should know that it’s hard for anyone when they’re fifteen and trying to figure out their sexuality. I think your dad could really help you with that, or whatever else it might be, if you just gave him a chance.”

“He can’t help me. I don’t want his help anyway. I don’t need his help. I’m fine,” Harry says through gritted teeth. 

Liam nods, watching Harry carefully before he takes a few brave steps towards the porch, sitting down on the steps next to Harry. 

“Why won’t you just leave?” Harry says, brushing at his cheeks. 

Liam looks away, pretending not to notice that Harry’s crying. “I think you’re going through a lot more than your letting on and I want you to know that you’re not alone in any of this.”

“You really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Harry says. 

“Maybe not, but I’ll tell you a little story anyway,” Liam says carefully. “Your dad’s my first boyfriend. My first girlfriend was a girl named Danielle, during high school and after we broke up I noticed that I looked at boys the same way I looked at her, thought about them in ways I also thought about her. I dated another girl, Sophia, and then Zayn’s mom, Enny. I knew that I liked boys though, tested the theory in between girlfriends any chance I could get.”

“Ew,” Harry says. 

Liam blushes, laughing at Harry’s reaction. “Sorry, I’ll spare you the details. I’m only saying that you’re not the only one who tried experimenting to figure out who they’re attracted to. I’ve been with women my entire life, in a public way at least, until I met your dad, and even if I wanted to keep it private I couldn’t, I don’t think he’d let me, but I don’t want to do that anymore.”

“What’s your point?” Harry asks.

“My point is that you’re not the only one who has ever gone through something like this, you’re not, even if you fee like you are. Millions of people figure out their sexuality every day, and some of them aren’t as lucky as you are to have a parent that supports you not matter what. My parents are both straight, and I was terrified about why I had to like boys and girls, terrified about what would come from it, but neither of them even batted an eye when I told them, just nodded their heads and asked if I wanted more bread with dinner.

“I don’t know the story about father, and how he figured out his sexuality, and I don’t need to, but I imagine that he was just as scared as you are now. People are always talking about being heterosexual or homosexual but no one ever tells you that it’s okay to be a little bit of both, it’s okay to be one and experiment with the other sex, and they never say it’s okay to be curious. So, it’s okay that if you’re trying to figure things out with Nick and Caroline, as long as you’re not leading them on or anything, no one should get hurt in this quest of self discovery,” Liam says. 

Harry sighs, taking a deep breath. It’s silent for a minute, long enough for Liam to panic that maybe he crossed a line that he shouldn’t have. He’s only the boyfriend of Harry’s father, he’s not someone that Harry likes, and he doesn’t want to ruin what he has going on with Louis, doesn’t want to make Louis angry, but he saw an opportunity and thought maybe that he could try to get Harry to a point where he wouldn’t go inside and make things difficult for Louis. He’s about to apologize when Harry finally opens his mouth to speak again. 

“I should apologize, shouldn’t I?”

Liam breathes a sigh of relief. “Yeah, you really should.” 

Harry stands up, pulling himself off the stairs and making his way towards the door. Liam follows suit, making his way towards his car, turning back to watch as Harry stops in front of the door. 

“I still don’t like you,” Harry says, turning back to look at Liam. “My dad doesn’t need a boyfriend, but you’re not a dick like the rest of them, which is the only reason why you’re still here.”

“He doesn’t need one but he’s got one,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders. 

Harry glares at him for a moment, rolling his eyes. Liam’s not sure what it will take to get Harry on his good side, but he’s happy to know that he’s helped him somehow, even if it did nothing to earn him points in Harry’s book. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Harry,” Liam says, waving before he turns around. 

“Hey, Mr. Payne,” Harry calls after him. 

“Liam,” Liam corrects. “We’re probably at the point where you can call me Liam, everyone at work calls me Liam, you’re the only one who doesn’t.”

“Right. Well, Liam I wasn’t finished…thanks for, you know, talking to me and stuff,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders. “I still don’t like you, but you’re not a complete asshole, or not like I thought anyway.”

Liam smiles. “Well that’s good to know.”

“I’m going inside to apologize and what not, you might as well just wait here.”

“Wait? Why?”

Harry rolls his eyes. “My dad, whether he forgives me or not, is going to be pissy that you had to leave, so just wait here and then I can bring you inside and he’ll forgive me. You’re a bargaining chip.”

“How about I go and get Zayn from my mom’s and then we’ll come back, together. My own bargaining chip since you like my son and not me.” 

Harry smiles briefly, the corner of his lips turning up. “Whatever,” Harry says, rolling his eyes before he disappears into the house. 

Liam laughs, feeling as though he’s gotten through to Harry, cracking at the teenager’s tough exterior. 

~~~~~

“Who said you could come back inside?” Niall shouts and Louis turns to see Harry reentering the house, closing the door behind him. 

“Calm down,” Harry says. “I need to talk to Dad about something so can you leave?”

“I don’t need to leave, you do,” Niall says. 

“It’s all right, Niall,” Louis says, patting Niall on the back. “Just go sit in your room for a little while so we can talk, maybe you can pick up all those dirty clothes on your floor and put them in the hamper. You could even make your bed.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry says as soon as they hear Niall’s door closed. Louis’ glances at him and sees that he’s shuffling his feet, twisting his fingers around in a nervous gesture. “I know that I shouldn’t have said it, because I didn’t mean it, and that it hurt your feelings, so I’m really sorry.” 

“I know you didn’t, and of course I forgive you, but it doesn’t change what happened, because I’m still angry about that. Do you think that maybe you can talk to me about it? About what happened with both Caroline and Nick?”

“Nothing happened with Caroline,” Harry says. "Not when you caught us at least. We were actually just listening to music and talking, and I know that you don’t believe me, but that’s what was happening.”

“But things have happened with Caroline?” Harry nods, and Louis feels himself beginning to get a little queasy. “Okay, well…that’s, okay. I need to sit down.”

Louis turns, making his way towards the kitchen, hoping that Harry is following him because if he’s going to listen to his son’s budding sex life then he needs to be in a place with close access to a an area to throw up, and where he can stick his head between his knees if he thinks he might pass out. He drops down in one of the kitchen chairs, motions for Harry to sit in one as well. 

“What happened with Caroline?”

“We’ve kissed before and stuff, but that day she came over we didn’t do anything. We had a talk about some stuff, stuff that I didn’t want to talk to you about or anyone else about. I know it didn’t look good on our part, but I didn’t lie to you that day.”

“So you’ve only kissed Caroline?” Harry blushes, rubbing his thumb at a spot on the table. “Okay, I don’t want to know anything else.”

“We’ve never had sex, she just helped me with some stuff.”

“Please spare an old man the details, please.” 

“And I didn’t do anything with Nick, well we kissed a little…or, a lot actually. We thought about, like, doing more, almost did, but then I could hear Niall shouting at the television and it kind of hit me that I shouldn’t do anything like that with Niall in the other room, so we just stayed in my room.” 

“Okay,” Louis says slowly, nodding his head. “Okay, so you just kissed?”

“More or less. I’m not stupid enough to do that with Niall in the house, or when you could come home, like you did. I mean, I thought I could get Nick out before you got home, but I’d rather you catch us when we’re fully clothed than when we’re doing something.”

“I get it, I do. I was fifteen once too. I remember one time…”

Harry cringes. “Please don’t finish, I already had to listen to Liam’s gay crisis, please don’t make me listen to yours, too. At least not tonight, please.”

“Liam talked to you?”

“Yes, god, it was awful. He started talking about his old girlfriend and talking about his old hook ups, and everything, and how he told his parents when he figured out that he was bisexual, and I just cannot listen to another story like that.”

Louis blinks for a moment; completely blown away that Liam would take time out to talk to Harry to help him figure out what is going on with him. He’s a little saddened that he couldn’t be the one to help Harry with it, but he understands that sometimes it’s someone else saying something to them that helps. But the one thing that sticks out in his mind is how mentions being bisexual. 

“Is this your way of telling me that you might be bisexual?” Louis asks carefully, keeping his eyes on Harry to gauge his reaction. 

Harry shrugs. “I don’t know. I was trying to figure out what I am. I think…I think that…”

“What’s bisexual?”

Louis glances behind Harry and sees Niall standing at the entrance to the kitchen, looking between both Louis and Harry. “Niall, I told you to stay in your room,” Louis says. Niall has the decency to blush when he’s called out on it. “And bisexual means that you like both boys and girls instead of just strictly one.” Louis purposely leaves out the details, leaves his definition vague so Niall doesn’t ask questions. He can’t handle having to explain anything to Niall when he’s finding out that Harry is experimenting. 

“Oh… I’m bisexual,” Niall says, nodding his head and entering the kitchen. “I like boys and girls. I mean, Sean and Dylan are my best friends, but I’m also friends with Ellie and Barbara, so I’m definitely bisexual.” 

“He doesn’t mean friends, dummy, he means like boyfriend and girlfriend,” Harry says, laughing at Niall. 

“So, what is it if you like girls? Or boys?” Niall asks, tilting his head. 

“You’re straight if you like girls and gay if you like boys,” Harry says. 

“Oh, I’ve heard of that before. Dad’s gay, right? What are you?”

Louis turns to look at Harry, sees that he’s swallowing, playing with his hands in his lap. “I think that I’m gay, too. I mean, girls are pretty and all that, but I liked what I did with Nick more than what I did with Caroline, and I thought that I’d like what I did with Caroline more than I did.”

“So you and Dad both have boyfriends? I’m not getting a boyfriend just because you two have boyfriends. I told Jade that I’d be her boyfriend and I don’t think my girlfriend would like it if I get a boyfriend while she’s my girlfriend,” Niall says. “I’m straight.”

“What do you mean you have a girlfriend?” Louis asks. “You’re too young.”

“She told me that I had to be her boyfriend, she said that’s how it works. Isn’t that what you did with Liam?”

Harry snorts, throwing his head back in laughter. Niall beams at having made Harry laugh and Louis doesn’t have it in him to care as long as Niall is happy. 

“All right, all right. Niall, sit down, I have a new set of rules for this household and we all need to talk about it. First, for Harry, you’re not allowed to have anyone in your room for a while, not permanently, just for a while. I don’t trust you right now, and I need you to work that trust up. I’m happy you talked to me and told me what’s going on but that doesn’t change what you did, all right?”

Harry nods, releasing a deep breath. 

“Both of you aren’t allowed to close your doors anymore when you have someone in there and since the sexualities in this house cover all genders then that means I’m including both girls and boys in this rule. I don’t want any locked doors in this house again unless you’re fresh out of the shower and butt naked. Is that understood?”

“Yeah.”

“All right.”

“I’m too tired to think of more rules right now but I reserve the right to make up any that I want in the near future in order to cover my bases, okay?” Both of his sons nod their heads, looking at each other and rolling their eyes. “Now let’s have ice cream, yeah? I could use some after all this.” 

~~~ 

Louis is in the kitchen cleaning the ice cream bowls, he’s relieved that he was able to talk to Harry and figure out what was going on with him, what’s been going on with him, and to actually talk instead of arguing and yelling. It’s a relief off his shoulders to have both of his sons getting along for one night so they can have a normal night together as a family. 

“Dad?”

“Hm,” Louis says, putting the last bowl in the dishwasher, looking back up at Harry.

“Can you come into the living room? There’s something in there for you,” Harry says, disappearing behind the wall. 

Louis frowns, but closes the dishwasher and follows after Harry. As soon as he enters the room he sees Liam standing in the other room, a sleepy looking Zayn in his arms. 

“What are you doing back here?”

“I’m going to bed,” Harry says, waving at Louis before he disappears down the hall. 

“Harry told me to come back so you wouldn’t be angry with him anymore, and I brought Zayn with me so he wouldn’t be angry with me anymore. I’m doing this mostly for selfish reasons because I’ll do absolutely anything to make your kids like me,” Liam says. 

“Dada,” Zayn whines, stretching out in Liam’s arms in an attempt to reposition himself. 

“Can I, um, lie him down somewhere? He was sleeping in the car but woke up and then stayed awake when he heard that he’d be seeing Harry.”

“Yeah, we can put him in my room,” Louis says, motioning for Liam to follow him. He walks down the hall, sees that the lights are off in both Louis and Niall’s room. “You could stay over, if you wanted to.” 

“I don’t think—I mean, that might not be the best idea. It’s soon, right? We could just go home, Zayn and I. We should go home.” 

“It’s late, and you’re both tired. It’s bad enough that you drove over here but to turn around and just leave… I promise that I won’t do anything; you can sleep on the couch if you want. Or, I could so you and Zayn can have the bed. We don’t have to sleep together. It’s just… couldn’t you stay?” 

“Okay, all right. Okay,” Liam says, glancing around Louis’ bedroom. Louis is grateful that he just recently cleaned it up. “Do you have any spare blankets?”

Louis nods, rushing out of the bedroom towards the hall closet where they keep spares of everything. He rummages around, pulling out six different ones (Liam deserves options) before he heads back towards his bedroom. 

“Can you make a pile on the floor for Zayn? He doesn’t mind sleeping on the floor, he does it all the time, but it’d be nice to have a little bit of cushion under him. And then he can use one of these pillows from your bed,” Liam rambles off, glancing around the room. “Do you have a shirt he can borrow? I can take him out of this and just put him in one of your shirts.”

“You’re nervous,” Louis says, grinning at Liam as he finishes up the bed on the floor for Zayn. “Shirts are in the second drawer over there.” Louis works on the bed, makes it as comfortable as possible for Zayn, grabbing one of his pillows from off the bed. He’s patting it down when he sees Liam out of the corner of his eye kneeling down next to him, lying Zayn down on the blankets. 

Liam smiles at him before he stands, taking the sheet from Louis’ hands and placing it over Zayn’s body. 

Louis walks over towards the other side of the bed, already dressed in his pajamas, having changed while Harry and Niall got out the ice cream. He glances up, sees Liam stepping out of his jeans, reaching down to pick them up so he can fold them and place them on the bedside table. 

Louis takes a deep breath, reminds himself that he promised to keep his hands to himself, and crawls into bed.


	16. Chapter 16

When Louis wakes up he knows that he’s wrapped tightly around something, or somebody. He opens his eyes slowly, squinting as he tries to adjust his eyes to the blinding light in his bedroom. He forgot to close the curtains when he went to sleep the night before but he was too worried about making sure that he didn’t make Liam uncomfortable to remember that they were open. 

Liam. 

Louis’ mind focuses in on the realization that Liam spent the night and the body lying under his belongs to his boyfriend, timid Liam that scares easily. Louis glances up slowly, sees that Liam is already awake and smiling bashfully at him. 

“Morning,” Liam says with a smile. 

“Oh god,” Louis says, wiping off his mouth as he untangles his limbs that are wrapped tightly around Liam. “I’m sorry. I was supposed to keep to myself last night. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Liam says, sitting up slowly. 

And that’s when Liam notices that he’s not wearing a shirt and Louis has perfect access to stare at his golden skin. He knows he shouldn’t be staring, knows he shouldn’t let his eyes admire Liam’s collarbone before he trails down to his muscular chest and stomach. He shouldn’t be staring at the hair spread across it and wondering how low it goes. He shouldn’t but it doesn’t him from doing it. He’s imagined Liam shirtless a million times, imagined Liam in every scenario possible with his shirt off. He’s imagined being the one taking it off, knows that he wouldn’t be able to control himself and would end up clawing the material off of Liam’s beautiful, beautiful skin. 

A part of Louis wants to cry, wants to throw himself on the floor in a fit of dramatics because in every scenario he’s imagined it was never the one that’s right in front of him; with Liam sitting on his bed in a pair of white Calvin Klein’s with the sheets draped around his waist, and with Zayn sleeping on the floor. Louis cruses his own stupidity for promising to keep his hands to himself because fuck the rules, Louis wants to wrap himself around Liam and get a touch and taste of every inch of Liam’s skin. 

“Are you okay?” 

Louis looks up and sees Liam looking at him with concern in his eyes, an unreadable expression on his face as he watches Louis carefully. 

“You’re shirtless,” Louis says back. “You took off your shirt.” 

“Oh…yeah, um, it got really hot in here last night and I normally don’t sleep with a shirt on anyway, so I just took it off. Is that all right?”

“All right, yes. Yes. Um, yes. I need you to put it back on though. As soon as possible, preferably, because there is a child in the room and you’ve been working out. It’s obvious by the, uh, looks of your body. Do you lift, like, can you lift me?” Louis’ mind races to images of Liam picking him up and throwing him down on the bed. “Don’t answer that. I need to go make tea or something.” 

Louis kicks the blankets off his body, stumbling out of bed as he rushes off towards the kitchen. He gathers everything he needs, flicks the water on so he can fill the kettle, waiting for it to fill before he sets it onto the stovetop, turning on the burner and waits. 

“Zayn’s still sleeping but when he wakes up we’ll head out.”

Louis turns to look at Liam, sees that he’s wearing a pair of Louis’ sweatpants and the black shirt he wore on their date the day before. Liam makes eye contact with Louis briefly before he glances back towards the ground, smiling at him shyly. “Why would you leave?”

“Louis, come on. You just freaked out because you woke up and I was here. It’s okay if you want us to leave; it’s not the end of the world. I mean, it was your idea but that doesn’t matter.”

“What? No,” Louis says, shaking his head. “No. No, Liam. No. I wasn’t freaking out because you’re here. I was freaking out because you were shirtless.” Liam moves his arms around so he’s covering his clothed stomach, protecting it from Louis’ sight. “No, it’s not a bad thing. It was a fantastically wonderful thing and I wanted to… Well, it doesn’t matter but I promised that I’d keep my hands to myself because I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable and scare you away. So I’ve been trying to stay away from you but I woke up on top of you and then your stomach is beautiful. Your chest is beautiful. Everything about you is beautiful and I deserve sainthood for being able to leave the bed this morning without putting my mouth on every inch of you.”

“But aren’t you allowed to do that now?” Liam says, looking at Louis in confusion. 

“Allowed to do what?”

“Touch. Isn’t that something boyfriends do? Touch each other? I mean, I would appreciate it if you didn’t do anything…sexual when my son is in the same room, but I’m not going to run off just because your hand is on me. I don’t know if you noticed but I was awake before you, when you were using me as a human pillow. I was awake for over an hour before you and if I was going to freak out then I would have done so already, right?”

“Right,” Louis says, nodding his head, the kettle whistling behind him. “I’m making tea, do you want tea?” 

“Yes, please. Three sugars.” 

Louis stills his movements, setting the kettle back down on the counter before he turns to look at Liam. “Pardon?”

“I take three sugars in my tea.” 

Louis nods, smilingly tightly before he turns back around to finish the tea. His hands shake as he tries to pour the sugar in the drink. He’s never seen someone ruin tea so blatantly in his life, and Liam. Liam was so lovely, so perfect. He concedes that everyone has his or her flaws, and Liam’s is that he doesn’t know what a good cup of tea is. 

Louis passes Liam the tea wordlessly, leans against the counter to enjoy his own cup. Liam blows on it before he takes a drink, pulling a face when he swallows. 

“It’s a little weak,” Liam says and Louis grips the counter as he watches Liam put three more sugars in his tea. 

~~~~~ 

“I’m sorry I worried you this morning,” Louis says, shifting around so his chin is resting on Liam’s shoulder instead of his cheek pressed against Liam’s shoulder blade. Liam’s standing at the stove cooking breakfast, Louis’ standing behind him with his arms around Liam’s waist, his hands pushed under Liam’s shirt so he can feel Liam’s skin. Ever since Liam gave him the go ahead Louis hasn’t been able to stop touching him, finding reasons to brush his fingers along Liam’s arm, his face, but more than anything, his stomach. 

Liam’s hard pressed to admit how much he loves the attention, mostly due to the three sleeping boys down the hall, one of which would probably kill him if he were to walk in on this moment. 

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Liam says, picking up the cooked pancake and dropping it on the plate next to the stove. “Miscommunication happens. I didn’t understand your weird babble, which in my defense should be excused because you’ve never actually shown any sort of nervous behavior around me so I thought that you not being overly confident meant that you wanted me out of the house.”

“Nope, never,” Louis says, tightening his arms. 

“I’ll have to leave soon anyway, I’m sure that your sons won’t like it when they wake up and find me in the house.” 

“Why wouldn’t we like it?”

Liam freezes when he hears the sound of a voice, it’s groggy and filled with sleep so Liam can’t tell who it is. He feels Louis pulls away from him, his face leaving Liam’s shoulder. 

“You’re awake early,” Louis says, pulling off of Liam and Liam says a quick prayer that it’s Niall awake and not Harry. He doesn’t want Harry’s first sight in the morning to see his father holding Liam from behind as he makes breakfast for everyone. 

He turns around slowly, smiling bashfully when he sees Niall standing in the entrance of the kitchen rubbing at his eyes, Harry standing behind him with Zayn in his arms. 

“Did you two have a sleepover?” Niall asks. 

“No,” Liam says, shaking his head. “I mean I did sleep over for the night but we didn’t have a sleepover. I just slept over.” Liam frowns, scrunching up his face in confusion at his own words. 

“Zayn and Liam slept over for the night. It was too late for them to be out driving, they were both tired so I suggested that they slept here,” Louis explains. 

“Your door was closed last night,” Harry says setting Zayn on the ground as he mutters a ‘Dada’. “I thought the rules said that no doors will be locked in this household for any gender unless you’re naked.”

“Were you naked?” Niall asks, his eyes wide. 

“No,” Liam practically shouts, shaking his head as he picks up Zayn. “Zayn slept in there as well. There was no naked anything, not even a naked foot. I wore socks to bed.” 

“Breaking your own rules?” Harry says, turning to look at Louis. 

“I don’t have to follow the same rules that you do because I’m a parent and I know how to make responsible decisions,” Louis says in response. “Besides, I do remember that you’re the one who invited Liam back over here, yes?”

“So you wouldn’t kill me and display my dead body outside for the neighbors. I didn’t invite him over so you two could spend the night together.”

“Nothing happened. Let’s all take a deep breath and be grateful that Liam is over and he’s making pancakes for everyone.”

“Liam’s burning the pancakes,” Niall says, glancing behind Liam at the stove. 

Liam curses, whipping around so he can remove the burnt pancake from the pan. He drops it in the trash and pours more batter out before anyone can say anything.

~~~ 

Louis is cleaning the dishes after breakfast, Liam passing plates to him after he scraps bits of pancakes into the trash. Breakfast went by easily and smoothly, nobody mentioning the sleepover but Harry did send Liam glances throughout the meal, his expression unreadable as they ate. Liam did his best to ignore it, focused his attention on the lighthearted conversation and making sure Zayn remembered to eat instead of staring at Harry. He knows it’s coming, some kind of Harry meltdown where he lashes into Liam for being near his father. It’s expected now, Liam knows it’s coming but he doesn’t expect it to be this very moment. 

“Liam, can I talk to you in the other room for a second.”

Liam turns around and sees Harry looking at him, pointing towards the background. Liam nods, passing Louis the plate in his hand, offering him a smile, before he turns around and goes to follow Harry. They don’t go far, walking to the other side of the living room, away from earshot of Louis. 

“When I said that I wanted you to come over for my father I didn’t mean that I wanted you to spend the night and take advantage of his kindness,” Harry says, looking up at Liam. 

“Harry nothing happened,” Liam says, peeking over Harry’s shoulder to glance at Louis’ worried face. 

“I don’t care. You just…you can’t stay here. I don’t want to hate you.”

“Don’t you already?” Liam asks, looking at Harry carefully. 

Harry shakes his head. “No but nothing good comes out anyone who stays the night here for my dad. Nothing. I don’t want to hate you. I don’t like you but I don’t hate you because you don’t treat my dad like a piece of trash that you found on the side of the street, or like gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. He’s not disgusting and an inconvenience to you. I honestly have no idea what is wrong with you mentally since you think stalking is endearing but you don’t make fun of him and you haven’t made him feel like shit, at least not yet, so I can’t just immediately hate you. But I really don’t want to hate you so please don’t start spending the night here. Please,” Harry says, pleading with Liam. 

“Harry, whatever you think that I’m going to do to your father I promise that it’s not going to happen. I really care about him. He’s funny, and kind, and so caring that I think his heart will burst from it one day. He’s full of love, most of it given to you and your brother. And sometimes I worry about what crazy thing he’s going to do next because he’s unpredictable but I would never make fun of him, tear him down, or hurt him. I’m not that kind of person. I care.” 

“You’re right, he cares too much. And someone needs to protect him because guys like you walk over him all the time and just because you’re not doing it yet doesn't mean that it won’t happen, because it will. It always happens and I’m the only Tomlinson in the entire house with enough sense to realize that.”

Liam takes a deep breath, tries to sympathize with Harry’s frantic behavior, tries his best to understand that Harry shows his love for Louis by scaring away everyone he thinks will hurt him because none of what Harry’s saying has anything to do with Liam. It has everything to do with Harry’s fear that someone will take Louis away from him, and that someone will hurt Louis when he doesn’t deserve to be hurt.

“If I can see endearing and charming out of someone following me around my own grocery store, then I think you should be able to trust me. I have no intentions of doing anything wrong here. And I promise you that if I hurt your father that you can put me in the canned goods aisle and throw as many canned vegetables as you want at me. I promise.” 

Harry looks at him for a moment and Liam tries his best to pull of a face that says that he can be trusted. “You better be good at keeping your word,” Harry says before he steps away and sits down on the couch next to Zayn. 

Liam takes a deep breath, gives himself a moment of silence before he heads back towards Louis. 

“What was that about?” Louis asks when Liam walks back into the kitchen. 

“Nothing,” Liam says, smiling at him. “He just wanted to thank me for the pancakes.” 

Louis looks at him for a moment, can probably tell that Liam is lying to him but trusts him enough to not press the matter any further. And Liam is grateful because he can’t handle two Tomlinson’s pressuring him into something in the exact same day. Today is Harry’s day and yesterday was Louis’ when he forced Liam to cancel their date for sloppy make outs in his kitchen, and when he convinced Liam to spend the night.


	17. Chapter 17

After Liam and Zayn leave Louis takes the opportunity to sit down and work on something that he hasn’t been able to do in a while. Both Harry and Niall are in the other room, while Louis sits on the couch in the living room working on a sweater he’s been trying to knit for ages. It’s been one of his favorite things to do for as long as he could remember, learning it from his mother and doing it as a hobby for as long as he could, turning it into a way to bring in extra cash when Harry was a toddler and Louis got the idea of making his sweaters by one of the mothers in their ‘Mommy and Me’ classes. He hasn’t had time to sit down and work on anything, no blankets, or sweaters, or tea cozies or socks. Not since he’s gotten serious with Liam. He wants to make something for the sake of keeping himself busy, doesn’t want to find himself in the amidst of too much free time because he knows that he’ll do something involving Liam, and after pushing the boundaries and having him sleepover, he’s not really sure he wants to mess it up. 

Sometimes he wonders why he still does it; no one has bought anything from him in ages. He makes a mental note to take his website down, to turn this back into something that he can do for fun. He wonders if Harry would still wear one of his sweaters, thinks he can get him to do it if he does something plain without any flare. Or he could make him a beanie, knows that Harry would wear that without question. Louis doesn’t wonder about Niall, knows that Niall isn’t prone to caring about what he’s wearing as long as it’s comfortable. He thinks fleetingly of Liam and Zayn, wonders if he can get them into something. 

He works hard to silence his thoughts, focuses on keeping count of his stitches as he works. It’s hard though, his mind flicking back to images of Liam in his bed shirtless as his hands work the knitting needles. 

“Do you have any idea how disgusting it is to know that you slept with your boyfriend while we were in the house?”

Louis looks up from the sweater he’s knitting, and sees Harry dropping down on the couch next to him, grabbing the remote off the arm of the chair and turning the television on. 

“Since when was sleeping disgusting?” Louis asks, making a mental note to remember he’s on stitch 75.

Harry rolls his eyes at him. “I’m not stupid. I know what goes on when people have their boyfriends spend the night. I’m sure the last thing you two did was sleep.”

“Excuse me?” Louis says, sitting up a little more and directing his body towards Harry. “I told you that nothing happened. He slept here and that’s it. And by slept I mean the exact same thing that you did in your bed last night.” 

“All right, chill out,” Harry says, holding his hands up. “It still doesn’t change that it’s gross to wake up and see you both canoodling in the kitchen. We eat in there. I don’t want to wake up and see the two of you together.” Louis fixes Harry with a look, one that his son returns with a huff and an eye roll. “Okay, I don’t like waking up and seeing the two of you like that. I don’t like it.”

“Better,” Louis says. “And I’ll make sure to remember to be more considerate of your feelings in the future.”

Harry nods his head, accepts the information and goes back to paying attention to the television. Louis looks at him for a moment, studies the features of his son’s face.

“How is everything with you?” Louis asks. 

Harry turns to look at him, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion. “Fine,” Harry says slowly. “Why?”

“I’m just asking. I haven’t heard anything else about Nick or Caroline. I’m just checking in on you.”

“It’s fine,” Harry says. “Caroline and I had an understanding a long time ago that nothing would ever come of it. She’s my friend, and she’s a good friend, but I just needed help and she understands that.”

“And with Nick?”

“Well, he wasn’t really impressed by my dad trying to break down my bedroom door while he was here, but he’s fine. We talked, like, about what you and I talked about. He said he likes me,” Harry admits, biting his lip as he looks at Louis. 

“Yeah? What’s not to like though, you’re perfect. And I’m not even being biased. I’m stating a fact,” Louis says with a smile. “But are we happy about that?”

“Yeah, we’re happy about that, really happy, actually. But I told him that I wasn’t ready to do any of that stuff that I was going to try and do with him. You know, like…stuff,” Harry says, glancing up at Louis to gauge his reaction. “I told him that I didn’t want to get into anymore trouble and that now that I know what it is that I want, you know, like, boys, that I don’t want to rush anything. I don’t even know if I only like boys. Maybe Caroline was the problem.”

“I don't know, bub. There really isn’t in instruction manual on any of this. You like what you like and maybe you’ll spend the next fifteen years thinking you only like boys but then you meet a girl that changes things. Anything is possible. But I can’t tell you what your preferences are.”

“I’d be nice if they could just stamp it onto our foreheads when we’re born, so that way when it reaches the point where we’re wondering we’ll already know,” Harry says. 

“That’d be nice, but there would still be people like you who are stuck wondering if that’s right. Just don’t let it worry you too much, okay? If you like Nick then you like Nick, don’t focus on the gender part of it, focus on the person. And know that no matter what I’ll support you. Got it?”

“Got it. Now go back to making your sweater, or whatever.” 

~~~ 

True to his word Louis makes sure to be conscious of himself when he’s around Liam, makes sure to keep contact to a minimum when Harry and Niall are in the same room. He doesn’t think Zayn has a problem with the contact, ignores their presence when Louis comes over when Harry and Niall are at their friend’s houses. But it’s come in handy, remember his son’s words because since Liam has spent the night Louis has found that he and Liam are spending more and more time together. 

Three weeks after Liam and Zayn have spent the night, and they’ve already fallen into a schedule.

It goes like this, on Sunday’s they get together for dinner, the night where they combine their families together in order to work on bonding between the four of them. It’s easy though, most of them already being able to tolerate each other with the exception of Niall when it comes to Zayn because Harry will sit by him, and Harry when it comes to Liam if he’s in a foul mood. 

On Monday’s they don’t get together, Niall has soccer practice and Liam has started working later, leaving Zayn at his grandmother’s house. The same ringing true for Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s, unless Liam brings Harry home from work, something that happens more often than it doesn’t. 

On Thursday’s, depending on if Niall has a soccer game or not, Liam and Louis will get to see each other. It’s always changing, sometimes turning into a night where they all eat dinner together, or occasionally where they watch a movie if Harry and Niall have completed all their homework. Most Thursdays Harry skips out on them, choosing to go over to one of his friends houses, he hasn’t gone over to Nick’s house, instead promises Louis that if he’s going to see him then it’ll be at Caroline’s house, possibly even another boy named Michael that Louis has begun to hear about. 

On Friday’s they go out alone together, leave Harry in charge of Niall and Zayn as they spend the night together. Liam’s always in charge the dates, says he likes to treat Louis. 

On Saturday’s they’re separated, spending time with their own families, catching up and making sure that their son’s know that they’re still the most important things to them. It’s harder for Louis on those days; his sons are older and tend to leave him for a portion of the day. It’s also Louis’ day to try and get his house in order, clean his son’s bathroom, do the laundry, take time out to focus on paying the bills. He doesn’t know how Zayn and Liam spend their Saturday’s, lets it stay between Liam and his son. 

But sometimes they abandon their schedule, choosing to see each other whenever they feel like it, taking lunch breaks together in order to sneak off and go somewhere when they don’t need to worry about where their children are. Louis is happy that things are getting easier for them, Liam accepting the growing nature of their relationship, accepting the curveballs Louis throws him. 

It’s easy, the way their lives mesh into each other’s blurring at the seams sometimes. But it feels right, and sometimes Louis finds himself thanking the heavens for his son’s defiant attitude for bringing Liam into his life. Sometimes. Most of the time he’s counting down the days until both of his sons are out of their teen years, starting with Harry because so far, Niall hasn’t shown any signs of an attitude. 

But that’s just so far. 

~~~ 

It’s Thursday and Louis and Niall are on their way home from one of Niall’s soccer games, he lost four to two, but Niall managed to score a goal so he’s not really concerned with the score. Louis can’t blame him. But it’s also the first time in a long time that Niall has mentioned negative feelings about Louis’ relationship with Liam. 

“I hate Zayn,” Niall says as Louis rolls to a stop at a red light a few blocks from their house. 

“You what?” Louis asks, glancing away from the road to look at Niall. “Where did that come from?”

“It came from my mouth,” Niall says. 

“Niall,” Louis says, giving Niall a look before glancing back to the road to see that the light has changed to green. “I mean, why are you telling me now that you don’t like Zayn? What brought that up?”

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I wanted to tell you for a long time, too but Harry said that I shouldn’t. He said to just keep my mouth shut but then I kept bothering him about it, so he finally told me that I could tell you. He said to wait for a time when Liam wasn’t around.” 

“And now Liam isn’t here so you’re telling me?”

“Yeah,” Niall says, nodding his head. “But it’s hard to tell you because Liam is always here, and he’s always bringing that baby of his.” Niall puts special emphasis on always, rolling his head in a circle as he says it. 

“I can talk to him and we can work something out to where you and I just have some time together. But I still don’t understand, did something happen?” Louis asks, taking a right hand turn. 

“No, it’s just I don’t like him,” Niall says, shrugging his shoulders. 

Louis glances over at him, sees that Niall is chewing on his fingernails, a nervous behavior that Louis knows all too well. He waits until they’re pulled into the driveway, engine shut off before he speaks. “I understand that you’re not happy about Zayn, and I think you’re not happy about how often he and Liam are over at the house, but I can’t read minds. You have to communicate with me about why you hate Zayn, tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t like him. I really, really don’t like him. I don’t like when he comes over.”

“Why?” 

“Because when Liam comes over then all you care about is him, and all Harry cares about is Zayn. And Liam’s your boyfriend so you have to care about him but Zayn isn’t anything but Harry still cares about him. He sleeps all the time, he likes stupid, baby stuff, and he’s just… I don’t like him. You have Liam and Harry has Zayn and I have my homework,” Niall says, looking up at Louis. 

“I didn’t know you felt like that,” Louis says, feeling a lump grow in his throat. 

“Harry told me not to tell you. He said you’d get mad and think it was his entire fault because he hates Liam. Or that it would make you sad, and I didn’t want to make you sad.”

“I’m not angry, or sad, but I am sorry. I didn’t realize. I didn’t know, but I’m going to make it up to you. Liam’s not coming over tonight and I’ll cancel our date tomorrow and then tomorrow night it can be about you, Harry, and me. We’ll do anything you want. Anything in the entire world as long as it’s realistic, affordable, and appropriate.” 

“I’m going to Josh’s tomorrow.”

“Since when?”

“Since forever. It’s his birthday party; he’s having a sleepover. Remember?” Niall says. 

“Oh. I didn’t remember, no. Then Saturday. Are you free on Saturday?”

Niall huffs, rolling his eyes playfully as he shakes his head. “All right. But I’m picking everything. I’m picking what we eat, where we go, what we do, everything.” 

“Absolutely,” Louis agrees, talking off his seat belt. He watches as Niall nods his head, removing his own seat belt before he hops out of the car, racing up the sidewalk and into the front door, which Harry has forgotten to lock…again.

His phone vibrates on the center console, he glances over and sees the preview that says he has a text from Liam, it reads: Tomorrowwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	18. Chapter 18

Louis is examining himself in the mirror, trying to check and make sure that the outfit he picked out is suitable for his date with Liam tonight when Harry enters his bedroom, lying down on Louis’ bed, hands tucked under his head, legs swinging back and forth as he watches Louis. 

“Does this look all right?” Louis asks, turning to show Harry the front of his outfit. He dressed himself for once, a simple pair of black jeans and a short-sleeved button-up, it’s navy in color with white dots. 

Harry looks at him, eyeing him up and down, his expression neutral. “Honestly? You kind of look like it’s your first day of school.”

“Well that’s good, right? Everyone dresses their best on the first day.” 

“Yeah, I guess. You know what? You look good. You look amazing.” 

Louis cocks an eyebrow, stares at his son in suspicion. “What do you want?” 

“I don’t want anything,” Harry says in mock offense. “I just think you look amazing. What are you and Liam doing tonight?” 

“I’m not sure, he likes to keep our dates hidden until I’m in the car. Or, no actually, sometimes he’ll tell me if I demand to know but I’m just happy to be going out tonight, don’t really want to spoil anything for myself.”

“So you’re still going to need me to watch Zayn, or?” Harry asks, sitting up on the bed, folding his legs as he looks up at Louis. 

“Yeah, of course we are. He’s too young to stay home by himself,” Louis says, moving to sit down on the bed next to Harry. 

“Oh,” Harry says, looking disappointed. 

“What? Why do you look upset about it? Don’t you like Zayn?”

“Well, yeah… I just. Nick’s having people over tonight and I wanted to go over there tonight, so I was hoping that maybe you found date plans that would include Zayn and I wouldn’t be needed.”

“I’m guessing this is why I look so amazing,” Louis says, noting the way Harry’s skin tints read at the words. “And who is ‘people’?” 

“A few of his friends, and Ed is going to be there, and I think Caroline is supposed to stop by for a little while. It’s going to be a lot of people but only a few of us are staying the night,” Harry says. 

“Do Nick’s parents know that this happening? Or am I going to get a phone call at three in the morning from the police saying that they’ve found you at a party?” 

“It’s not a party, I swear. His parents are going to be there and they said he could have some people over, not a lot, and that three of us could spend the night. It’s going to be me, Matt, and Ed that get to sleep over, but if I can’t go then Nick’s going to invite over this boy that I don’t really want there because he likes Nick and that’s not fair.” 

“Oh no of course not, definitely not fair,” Louis says, frowning and shaking his head. 

“Dad, please. Please,” Harry begs. “I won’t ask to go out for two weeks. I’ll clean the kitchen, and I’ll clean my room, I’ll clean Niall’s room. I just want to go out this one time, and it’s not fair that Niall would get to stay at his friend’s house while I’m home watching your boyfriend’s son.”

Louis sighs, weighing out his options in his head as he tries to think. He knows that Harry won’t do any of the things that he’s just mentioned, knows that he’ll be begging to go back out in just a few days and that he’ll pretend this conversation never happened when Louis mentions the dirty clothes lying in a pile on his floor. But Harry does have a point when he mentions that it’s not fair for him to be the only person in the house to not be able to do anything for the night. He takes a deep breath and says, “You can go, but I want to speak to Nick’s parents.”

“You what?” Harry says, smile fading from his face. 

“I want to talk to Nick’s parents. I want to make sure that they’re going to be there for the entire night and that sleeping accommodations won’t allow any midnight cuddles, yeah?” 

“You’ve never wanted to talk to one of my friend’s parents before,” Harry says slowly. 

“You’ve never wanted to explore your sexuality with one of your friends before. I’m not trying to give special treatment to Nick, or to make you feel like you have to jump through hoops to be around him, but I do want to make sure there will be adult supervision. It’s been a while since the two of you have hung out in a setting where I’m not completely comfortable, so I want to make sure that everything will be fine and I won’t have to be worried about you all night,” Louis explains. 

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Harry says. 

“And I believe you, I really do, but I just want to talk to his parents.” 

Harry takes a deep breath, shakes his head at Louis. “No, I mean it. None of my friends, besides Caroline, know about me and Nick and what we did and how I like him and he likes me. I’m not ready for everyone to know. Nick knows that and so does Caroline, so I wouldn’t do anything to try and let everyone find out about it.”

Louis looks at Harry for a moment, can tell he’s being sincere when he says that nothing will happen between him and Nick. He doesn’t want to be the kind of parent that can’t trust his kids, doesn’t want to be the kind of parent to turn his kids against him by embarrassing them. “How about I make you a deal? I can either call them and just confirm with them that they’ll be home for the night and you can walk there, or you can ask Nick if they can pick you up and I can talk to them when they get here, or I drive you and talk to them at the door. Either way I’d like to talk to them, but I won’t mention sleeping arrangements, I’ll trust you and that you’re not lying about this.” 

“You can call them. Please,” Harry says, digging his phone out of his pocket. 

~~~ 

Louis bites his lip as he gauges Liam’s reaction, hoping that Liam won’t be angry with him for cancelling their plans and changing it to a night in his house with the two of them and Zayn. He’s gotten Harry to promise to watch Zayn next time Louis asks without question, but telling Liam makes him wish he could go back in time and tell Harry no. It’s not like Liam is mad, it’s just he’s blinking at Louis in confusion, an adorable pout on his lips as he looks at Louis, and Louis wants to kiss it off, can’t because there is a child in Liam’s arms. 

“Okay,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders. “Well, maybe we could stay here. I brought a bag over, filled it with some of Zayn’s toys and movies incase Harry had trouble finding something for them to do, and I packed some clothes so that Zayn could get changed into pajamas and fall asleep before we got back, but since Harry is out, then maybe we could stay here instead. I mean, if you want that.” 

“Are you asking to spend the night?” Louis asks, concerned because he’s never heard Liam be the one to make a suggestion without him prompting it, or working hard to get Liam to realize that’s what he wants to do. He didn’t have to work for this, Liam is handing him a sleepover on a silver platter and Louis can’t believe it. 

“You can say no,” Liam says, setting Zayn on the ground, shrugging his shoulders. “I won’t be angry about it.”

“No,” Louis says, shaking his head. “No as in I’m not going to say no, not no as in no you can’t stay. Yes you can stay, no you can’t go.” 

Liam smiles, his cheeks flaring up a little as he looks at Louis. Louis takes the opportunity to kiss Liam, soft and quick. He glances down and sees Zayn distracted by going through the bag that Liam dropped on the floor next to the couch when Louis let them in the house. 

“Kind of nice having someone that doesn’t want to murder us for touching, isn’t it?” Louis says, nodding towards Zayn who smiles at them as he pulls one of his Power Ranger dolls from the bag. “If that was Niall or Harry I think you’d be dead.” 

“He’s never seen me kiss anyone but him, I don’t think he really understands why people kiss each other, and I don’t think he understands or cares about what it means to have a boyfriend. If he was Harry’s age I’m sure he’d have killed you,” Liam says, winking at Louis. 

“Isn’t that just lovely,” Louis says sarcastically, knocking his shoulder against Liam’s as he kneels down on the floor to make himself eye level with Zayn. “Hi Zayn.”

“Hi,” Zayn says, tugging his other doll out of the bag. “Where Harry?”

“He’s not here,” Louis says. “He won’t be home until after you sleep, after breakfast.” 

Zayn looks at him for a moment, frowning before he turns to look at Liam. “Dada.” 

“I know, I promised that he would be here, but now you get to play with Dada and Lou. You can show Harry your toys tomorrow, okay?” Liam says, kneeling down next to Louis. “I know he’ll be excited to see you tomorrow.” 

“And can I just say that I am probably the greatest person to play Power Rangers with,” Louis says. “I’m way better than Dada and Harry.” Zayn looks at him skeptically for a moment, so Louis adds, “how about I show you how well I can play while your father cooks us dinner?”

“Oh of course, lets ship me off,” Liam says, nudging Louis. 

“They’re technically your groceries since I got them from your store, so it really only makes sense that you should be slaving away in the kitchen while we defeat evil, right?” Louis says, looking at Zayn. 

Zayn looks at him for a moment, blinking his eyes slowly before saying, “okay.” 

~~~~~ 

“Where should we put him for the night?” Liam asks, looking down at Zayn’s sleeping body. They managed to keep him awake until an hour ago, fed him pasta after he and Louis destroyed the living room while playing Power Rangers. They spent the entire night finding ways to engage Zayn in activities, taking him out in Louis’ yard to run around with a ball. It’s a light hearted night, and Liam finds that throughout the course of it that he’s developed stronger feelings for Louis, being able to watch him with his son, his beautiful sleeping son. 

Liam glances over towards Louis, sees that he letting out a yawn as he stretches, his shirt riding up a bit to reveal of abdomen as he does it, and Liam is reminded that he’s never seen Louis without a shirt, doesn’t know what’s lying under the soft cotton. 

“I’m guessing you don’t want him to stay on the couch, he might roll off.”

“He won’t,” Liam says, shaking his head. “He’s a heavy sleeper and usually doesn’t move too much.” 

“Even still, he shouldn’t be sleeping on the couch. He can sleep in Harry’s bed. I’ll go kick around the mess, it’s mostly just clothes and make sure his sheets are clean enough, while you pick him up,” Louis says, waving his hand towards Zayn before he disappears down the hallway. 

Liam kneels down, grabs the bag he brought that’s next to the couch and pulls out a bear of Zayn’s pajamas. It’s a grey onesie he bought him not that long ago, light grey with Batman logo pattern across it. He unbuttons it, and sets it down on the couch, pulling at pants Zayn is wearing, pushing them back into the bag when they’re off before he goes to remove Zayn’s shirt. He puts him in a pull up, says a silent prayer that Zayn won’t wet himself in Harry’s bed tonight. 

He finishes dressing him, buttoning up the onesie from his ankle to his neck, and picks up. When he reaches Harry’s bedroom he sees Louis shoving a pile of boots into the closet, smiling up at him when he enters. 

“Batman?” Louis says, eyeing the pajamas that Zayn is wearing. 

“Only the best,” Liam says, patting Zayn on the back as he adjusts him in his arms. “Is it all right to lie him down?”

“Yeah, of course. I cleaned his sheets on Monday, it’s Friday now and they still smell fresh, so I’d assume they’re all right for someone else to lie in.”

Liam nods his head, lies Zayn down in the bed, resting his head on the pillows and pulling the blankets up around him. He leans down and kisses Zayn’s head, smoothes his hair out on his forehead, brushing it back before he stands up, glancing over at Louis. He smiles at him, nods his head for Louis to flick the light off and makes his way out of the room. He closes the door behind him, knows that Zayn will be all right as long as he leaves a sliver of it open incase he crawls out of bed in search for Liam in the middle of the night, and turns to see Louis standing in the hall, smiling softly at him. 

“What?” He asks, cocking his head to the side. 

“Nothing,” Louis says, shaking his head, reaching out to grab Liam. “You’re just cute. I like watching you with Zayn. I don’t know, you’re just a good dad to him. You’re just good, everything about you. I just really like you, Liam.” 

“Well, that’s good,” Liam says. “It’s even better that the feeling is mutual, yeah?”

“Yeah?” Louis asks, smiling up at Liam. Liam gets a second to nod his head before Louis is pushing up on his toes and connecting their mouths together. 

Liam reaches out, places his hands on Louis’ hips as they kiss, blindly guiding them towards Louis’ bedroom. They bump into the walls as they walk, Louis giggling into Liam’s mouth as they go, wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck and pushing Liam through a door. Liam feels himself being guided backwards until the backs of his knees knock against the bed and he falls backwards, pulling Louis down on top of him. 

Louis pulls away first, tugging on Liam’s bottom lip as he goes, placing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth before he pulls away completely. “We should get dressed for bed,” Louis says, kneeling back so he’s straddling Liam’s thighs. 

Liam nods his head, rubs his thumbs against Louis’ hips. “Yeah, all right,” he says, patting Louis’ thighs as he climbs off of him. “I didn’t bring myself clothes though.” 

“What do you mean?” Louis asks, turning around to look at him as he pulls a pair of pants out of his drawer.

“I mean that I wasn’t planning on sleeping here so I didn’t bring clothes, I’m going to have to sleep in my underwear again, but last time I did that you woke up and freaked out a bit. I don’t want to freak you out.” 

Louis looks at him for a moment, nibbling on his bottom lip as he thinks. “I could let you wear a pair of my pants,” Louis says, holding up the plaid pajama bottoms in his hand. “If you want.” 

Liam looks at him for a moment, considers his options, and with a sudden burst of confidence says, “Or you could wear what I’m wearing to bed, just a pair of boxers.” Louis’ mouth drops open a little as Liam takes a few steps towards him, stopping when he’s directly in front of him. “If you want,” Liam says as an after thought. 

Louis looks up at him for a moment, biting his lip as slowly unbuttons his shirt, reaching the bottom and shrugging it off his shoulders, never breaking eye contact with Liam as he does it. He takes a step back when he removes his jeans, but instead of remaining in his light grey boxer briefs he pulls the pajama bottoms over his lower half. 

He tugs impatiently at Liam’s shirt, helping him pull it off, and throwing it on the ground when it’s finally off. Liam watches Louis make his way over towards the bed, flicking off the light on his way and closing his bedroom door in the process before he crawls under the blankets, leaving Liam to take off his own pair of jeans before he joins him. 

He crawls in behind Louis, pulling the blankets up his body as he slides close to Louis. He hesitates for a moment before he rolls onto his side, reaching around to cup a hand around Louis’ neck and pulling him in for a kiss. 

Louis accepts it, letting out a sigh as he tangles his fingers through Liam’s hair, nibbling on Liam’s bottom lip until he parts his lips and allows Louis to lick into his mouth, let’s Louis pull him closer until he’s half on top of him. 

And Liam feels light headed, wants to kiss Louis until he’s gasping for air and Liam can plant kisses over Louis’ neck, his shoulders, his chest, the wonderful little bump of his stomach, and every inch that he’s never been allowed to see before that’s being softly illuminated by the moonlight draining in through the windows. He knows that he wants to feel Louis’ skin, can tell Louis is interested in what’s happening by the way he can feel Louis thickening up against his thigh, but knows that he doesn’t want to further than a general exploration. 

God, he wants to do something, knows he does, can feel himself getting hard as Louis continues to kiss him. He feels like he’s a teenager again, a heated kiss turning into something more as Louis drags his blunt nails down Liam’s back. 

Liam drags his hand down Louis’ chest, dragging to the hemline of his plaid pajamas bottoms. He falters for a moment, dragging his hand along the bit of skin that’s touching the soft material of the pants, feels Louis shudder beneath his touch, pushing his body closer to Liam’s, tightening his fingers in Liam’s hair as he kisses him. He takes it as a silent confirmation that it’s okay to continue as he dips his hand into Louis’ pants.


	19. Chapter 19

The sound of Zayn crying is what wakes Liam up the following morning. He’s lying in Louis’ bed, Louis draped over him, their naked torsos pressed together as the other boy holds onto him in his sleep. Liam does his best to pry Louis’ grip off of him, shimming out of from underneath him, almost falling off the bed in the process. He straightens up, standing up completely and smiling down at Louis. He pulls the sheets up over Louis’ body, noticing the tiny shiver of Louis’ body, the goose bumps rising on his skin, and presses a kiss to Louis’ bare shoulder before he follows the sound of Zayn’s cries in Harry’s room. 

Zayn’s sitting in the middle of Harry’s bed, the blankets still wrapped around his waist as he looks around the room with fear in his eyes and sadness on his face. He’s pouting and crying at the same time, and if Liam wasn’t so tired, and worried, he’d take a moment to appreciate how cute his son is, even with tears in his eyes. It’s an adorable sight. 

“Hey, you’re okay,” Liam says, entering the room and pulling Zayn from the bed. He hugs him against his chest, patting his back and rocking him gently. “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He repeats it like a mantra, making his way out of Harry’s bedroom room, down the hall, and into the living room so he can sit down on the couch. 

“You were just sleeping in Harry’s room, it’s okay. Dada was in the other room with Louis, just like at home, you sleep in one room and Dada sleeps in another, right? Oh baby,” Liam says, rubbing Zayn’s back as he continues to cry, his cries diminishing though, quieting down to soft whimpers. “Did you wake up scared? Did you not remember where we were?” 

“Dada…gone,” Zayn chokes out, pulling away to look at Liam’s face. Tears are trickling down his cheeks as he pouts at Liam. 

Liam reaches out, brushing away the tears on his cheeks, smiling sadly at his son. “Never gone, promise. I didn’t think you’d wake up scared. Do you want to lie down? Here,” Liam says, shifting around so he and Zayn are lying down on Louis’ couch, head rested on the arm of it. Liam’s on his back with Zayn curled up against his side, half lying on his chest and half lying on the couch. “We can lie down together.” 

He settles back against the couch, rubbing Zayn’s back as he slowly stops crying, just releasing quiet sniffles as he rests his head against Liam’s chest. “Where Harry?” Zayn asks, and Liam almost snorts in response. 

“He’s at a friend’s house, baby. He won’t be home until later, we might not see him today,” Liam says. 

“No,” Zayn whines. 

“All right, we’ll wait to leave until you see him. I just remembered last night I said you could see him and show him your Power Rangers. Maybe you and Harry and Niall can play with your Power Rangers for a little while, or watch a movie or something?” 

“Okay, Dada,” Zayn says behind a yawn. 

“Close your eyes, bub. You’re still tired. Dada will stay with you while you sleep,” Liam says, squeezing Zayn gently. 

He lies in silence, Zayn lying on top of him as he waits for the sound of his son’s heavy breathing to fill the air, a sound that comes almost instantly. He’s still amazed; three years of being Zayn’s father how easily sleep comes to his son, something that takes him hours to achieve, his mind never quite settling down enough for him to drift off after three minutes. 

He’s not sure how long he’s lying there until he hears the sound of someone shuffling along the carpet, yawning as they walk. He looks up and sees Louis’ peering over the back of the couch, an unreadable expression on his face until he starts tugging the cushions on the back of the couch off. 

“What are you doing?” Liam asks, watching in amusement. 

Louis doesn’t answer him, instead he grabs the blanket he knitted that was hanging over the back of the couch, and rolls onto the couch, wedging himself between Liam and the furniture, throwing the blanket over the three of them. 

“Thought you left,” Louis murmurs, voice quiet and filled with sleep as he settles against Liam, the latter wrapping his arm around him. 

“No, I wouldn’t leave. Zayn woke up crying, was scared when he woke up in Harry’s bed. I told him last night he was going to sleep in his own bed, I should have changed that when we decided we’d be sleeping over.” 

Louis hums, rubbing his face against Liam’s bare chest. Louis has a shirt on again, must have put it on when he woke up alone in his bedroom. “Thought maybe you regretted last night.” 

“Nothing to regret,” Liam says easily, and if didn’t have two boys lying on his arms then he’d have shrugged his shoulders. 

“Good,” Louis says, letting his eyes slip closed. “Because I’m quite the fan of hand jobs, and I hardly think I prevent myself from doing them again, well I can now, but when we’re alone I don’t think, but that’s different. Now shh, I’m trying to sleep.” 

Liam laughs, muttering a quiet okay before he does the same as the two of them, closing his eyes and trying to go to sleep. 

~~~~~ 

“Where’s Dada?” Zayn asks, looking at Louis with wide hazel eyes. 

“He’s still in the shower, should be done any minute now. In the meantime it’s Zayn and Louis time, yeah? You get to hang out with Louis.” 

Zayn looks at him for a moment in curiosity, his gaze calculating as he does it, and Louis braces himself for Zayn to start screaming, knows that if it was one of his sons that he’d be hollering right now. He knows it would happen from experience, Louis taking a shower while a previous boyfriend would watch Harry and Niall, only to be interrupted when Harry lets out a blood-curdling, ear-piercing scream until Louis comes stumbling out of the shower, shampoo in his eyes, towel wrapped around his body. So he’s pleasantly surprised when instead of screaming Zayn just continues to look at him and says, “Where Harry?” 

Pleasantly surprised and slightly dejected. “He’ll be home soon, hopefully before your dad gets out of the shower, right?” 

Harry’s never screamed when someone else was in the shower, used to hold onto Louis’ leg, one arm wrapped around his leg while the other gripped onto the nearest object, Niall laughing uncontrollably in the background, in order to prevent him from going anywhere if someone else was in the house. He knows Harry wouldn’t do that now, would never go back to his childlike ways, but Louis thinks he might resort to screaming if finds out Liam spent the night and needed a shower in the morning. 

“What do you want to do while your dada showers, hmm? Anything? We can eat cookies,” Louis says. He’s not ashamed to admit he wants to bribe Zayn into liking him, and he’s learned through his own children that cookies are one of the best ways to get a child to love you. 

Zayn shakes his head though, denying Louis the ability to give a cookie. “Do dishes.” 

“Dishes? You want to clean?” Louis asks in disbelief. 

“Yes,” Zayn says, so Louis grabs one of the kitchen chairs, places it in front of the sink and puts Zayn on top of it. He hands him the soap and the sponge, opens the dishwasher as well. 

“You clean them and I’ll put them in here, okay?” Louis says. 

Zayn nods his head and waits for Louis to turn the water on before he starts cleaning. Louis watches in fascination as Zayn messily cleans the dishes, frantically scrubbing the sponge across the surface, not paying attention to food bits from their breakfast or that there is a trail of soap dripping off of them as he hands them off to Louis. He’ll have to go back and rinse these off properly after the two of them have left, he doesn’t think the dish soap will end well inside the dishwasher, or the bits of food stuck to them will make it off in the wash cycle, but he lets Zayn work, figures it’s for the best. 

“You must really be Liam’s son if you think washing dirty dishes is fun. Is that what you do with Dada?”

Zayn ignores him, continues to scrub away at the cup in his hand, and Louis takes the opportunity to take a picture of him doing it so he can show it to Liam later. 

Zayn’s almost finished with the dishes when Louis hears the sound of his front door, he glances at the clock and sees that Niall and Harry are an hour earlier than he told them to be back. 

“Dad?”

“Kitchen,” Louis calls, hearing as his shower shuts off.

“Who’s in the shower?” Niall asks, trudging into the kitchen. He skids to halt when he sees Zayn, his eyes narrowing as he eyes him doing the dishes. “Why is he here?” 

“Who?” Louis swallows thickly when he sees Harry enter the room as well, looking back and forth between Louis and Zayn. “Was that Liam in the shower?” 

“That’s a good question,” Louis says, adjusting the collar of his shirt. “I would say, um, maybe. No, actually, yes. He is. They spent the night last night.”

“They spent the night last night?” Niall and Harry repeat at the same time. 

“Yes,” Louis says slowly, struggling to swallow, as he knows one of his sons is about to snap. 

“I hate that brat, why did he stay here?” Niall says, surprising both Louis and Harry. “You said that you wouldn’t see them. You lied.” 

“I didn’t lie. I said that I’d cancel our date so that we could spend time together, but you went out, so I never cancelled it. I promised that we’d spend more time together and we will,” Louis says. 

“We’re not doing anything because he’s here. I know you’re going to ditch me for him. Why does everyone like him so much,” Niall says. “And why are you picking him up?”

It’s Harry who has made his way across the kitchen, stopping Zayn from completing the dishes and scooping him into his arms. 

“The last thing a three year old needs to hear is you crying and saying how much you hate him, so yeah, I’m going to bring him into my room,” Harry says, disappearing down the hall with Zayn in his arms. 

“He’s right,” Louis says. “Niall, you can’t talk like that around him. He’s too young, and he’s done nothing wrong. I understand why you’re angry, I get it, we’ve talked about it before, but Zayn’s just a child. 

“You’re supposed to be on my side, not Zayn’s,” Niall spits out. 

“Niall, did you sleep at all last night?” Louis asks. “I don’t understand why you’re so angry.”

“I slept fine. I just hate Zayn. I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I don’t want him in this house. I hate him and I hate Harry.”

“Why do you hate me?” Harry shouts, making his way down the hall towards the kitchen. 

“Harry, go back into your room,” Louis shouts. 

“No, he’s in here talking about me, and why should I leave? So you can talk about me with him?” Harry fires back. 

“No one wants to talk about you. You smell,” Niall retorts. 

Louis sees Liam enter the kitchen, holding onto Zayn, he offers Louis a small wave before he sneaks out of their house. Louis doesn’t even have time to care that Liam probably heard Niall ranting about how awful Zayn is, or that Zayn heard, or that Liam had to sneak out of their house because his children are screaming at each other. 

“All right, enough from both of you,” Louis says, cutting the two of them off. “You’re done. Harry, you didn’t need to get involved in this at all. Niall, I don’t understand why you’re so angry today, but you need to take a few deep breaths and calm down. I think you should both go to your room for a little while.” 

“I got involved because he’s being a baby. He’s mad at Zayn, what has Zayn ever done to you?” Harry asks, ignoring Louis completely. “He doesn’t do anything besides sleep and ask questions. You’re throwing a fit, acting younger than him, all because of you’re jealous. You’re jealous of a toddler.”

Niall’s face is bright red in anger, he’s glaring at Harry with such anger in his eyes that Louis’ worried he’s going to attack his eldest son but instead his eyes start to water, his bottom lip begins to shake, and he slowly starts crying. 

“Niall, it’s not a big deal,” Louis says, crouching down so he’s just below eye level to Niall, forcing his son to look at him. “Why are you so upset about Zayn? I promised that you and I would spend more time together, but you weren’t here last night, so they came over. They were going to leave within the hour but you got home before they could. Is there something else going on? Do you want to talk about it?”

“You’re going to hate me, too,” Niall says, crying and dropping his head onto Louis’ shoulder. 

“What are you talking about?” Louis says, wrapping his arms around Niall almost instantly. “I could never hate you, and who hates you? Did a little brat at that sleepover say something to you? I’ll call his parents, and I won’t even be angry if you have to hit him, although I don’t think you should.”

“I’m scared you’re going to not like me anymore. You’re going to hate me like Harry does,” Niall says, mumbling into Louis’ shoulder. “If he does then you will, and it’s all because of Zayn.” 

“What are you saying about me?” Harry asks. “If you’re going to try crying on Dad you can at least tell me what you’re saying since it does revolve around me. That would be the mature thing to do.” 

“I said,” Niall shouts, pulling his face out of Louis shoulder. “You’re the world’s biggest jerk and I hate you.”

“Cute,” Harry snorts, rolling his eyes. 

Niall growls at him, shrugs out of Louis grip and dives onto Harry. He begins throwing his arms around and hitting every inch of Harry that he can reach. Louis scrambles to his to feet, grabbing a hold of Niall and pulling him off of Harry. He’s a million times thankful that Harry didn’t decide to start hitting Niall back. 

“Niall, can you go outside? Just, go outside for a little while, all right? Play around in the yard or something. I need to talk to Harry,” Louis says, making his way across the room so he can open the back door. 

“Fine. Hopefully I’ll get kidnapped so I won’t have to look at Harry’s giant ears and unwashed hair anymore. I get nightmares thinking about the animals living on your head,” Niall shouts, sticking his tongue at Harry before he runs out of the house. 

“Stay in this yard,” Louis shouts after him, closing the door. He needs his sons separated, knows that if he sent on to their room that they’d be sitting at their door listening, waiting for the moment where they can charge out and start a fight. Teaching your children to talk is overrated; honestly, Louis doesn’t know what he was thinking trying to get them to utter words for so long.

“He attacked me and you’re letting him go out? Are you kidding me? If I did that you’d have hung me in the front lawn by my feet and let the neighbors try and beat me with a stick like I’m a piñata, but Niall gets told to go outside. Are you joking? Dad, he attacked me.”

“Harry, stop talking,” Louis says, his tone calm but stern, and Harry shuts his mouth, glaring at Louis. “Listen for once, please. Niall’s upset because of you. He hates Zayn because of you. He’s only ten; he doesn’t understand that for you it’s not cool to hang out with him, because to him that’s all he wants to do. I bet you that if you asked him to stay at home with you before he’s about to go to Sean’s, he’d do it. He’d do anything for you, and it upsets him to know that Zayn doesn’t have to do anything for your attention. He came into the house crying and saying that he hated Zayn, and kept saying that he hated him, but do you know what it always comes back to? You. 

“He’s always worried that you’re going to start liking Zayn more than you like him, because he thinks you hate him. He’s worried that I’m going to like Liam and Zayn more than I like him, because he’s insecure, mostly from the way you treat him. I’m not saying this to make you upset. I just want you to understand how much Niall is being affected by your newfound attitude.

“He loves you, probably more than he loves me, probably, I don’t know for sure, but he loves you, and it kills him when you ignore him. I’m begging you, absolutely begging you to please, please cut the teenage angst bullshit and spend a little time with your brother. You can still fight with him, you can still think he’s annoying, but please try.”

“Why is it always my fault?”

“I’m not saying it’s your fault, but you’re the older one. Listen; just think about it, all right? You’re the best person that I know, and I love you more than anything, Niall, too, but I just want to see the two of you getting along. That’s all I want,” Louis says, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m going to go shower, you can do what you want, but just think about what I said, okay? Niall still needs his big brother, even if you think you might not need a little brother, okay?”

~~~

A half an hour later when Louis’ body is clean from the shower, his clothes clean and no longer sticking to his pelvis with dried come, does Louis head back into the kitchen to finish the dishes that Zayn started. The house is quiet as he walks through it, both of his son’s doors are closed and he assumes that they’ve locked themselves up for the day. He figures that after he’s finished the dishes he can go back and ask Niall if he still wants to hang out with him, hopes that it will brighten Niall’s spirits a little. 

Louis sighs as he flicks the water on, pulling out all the dirty dishes he dropped in earlier that need to be scrubbed properly. He drops them in the sink, soaping up the sponge and begins getting to work. 

He’s halfway through when he hears people laughing outside; he glances up, hoping to see what’s going on through the window. It’s not what he expects, figures it’s the neighbor, but instead, it’s Harry and Niall chasing each other and a soccer ball. 

Louis’ legs almost give way, his heart feels like it’s going to pop right out of his chest as he watches the two of them getting along for the first time in ages. He scrambles around to grab his phone, turning on the camera, pressing it to the glass and taking as many videos and pictures as he can manage. He wants to remember this moment for as long as he can, wants to relive it incase the next isn’t for another large moment in time. 

He drops his phone on the counter, smiles one last time before he goes back to doing the dishes, peeking out of the window every few minutes to catch glimpses of his children. 

Louis phone vibrates on the counter next to him, a text coming through. He glances down at the screen as he cleans the plate in his hand, reading the preview of the message. _You made my son do your dishes?_


	20. Chapter 20

“I need to explain,” is the first thing Louis says when he barges into the security room at the grocery store a few days later. They haven’t talked much since Liam left his house during the Tomlinson family fight, he didn’t really want to force Zayn to witness any of that, to hide in Harry’s bedroom and listen to the angry shouts coming from the next room. So he left, grabbed his son and made his way home for the day. 

They had bits of broken conversations, a few texts back and forth, but nothing solid to point where Liam felt satisfied with their talk. Louis’ is always stressed out, ranting about how his kids getting along has meant that, while the fighting between them has decreased, they’re tag teaming Louis when one of them is angry about something, or when one of them wants something. Liam understands; he’s been busy on his own. He’s had to spend time with Zayn, take care of an error on one of the latest shipments, and firing one of his employees because she stopped coming into work three weeks ago, or so the other cashiers have told him. It’s a ton of paperwork, and Liam really doesn’t like doing paperwork. He wished he worked in an office so he could hire an assistant to do everything for him.

So he understands being busy and why they might not have talked recently, but he hasn’t expected the time they get to talk is when he’s eating his lunch in the security room while he watches the cameras and looks out of the window at the store. 

“I need to explain,” Louis says again, grabbing the other chair and sitting down next to Louis. “First, I never clarified that I didn’t actually force your son to do the dishes. I know this was, like, four days ago, but I need you to know that there wasn’t any child labor taking place. I offered to do something fun, but he’s your son, so he wanted to do something responsible, like the dishes. He wanted to scrub breakfast off of plates.” 

“Okay,” Liam says easily, swallowing the bite of his sandwich that was in his mouth. “I was only teasing you. If I thought there was foul play I would have said something sooner, but I let it go.” 

“Oh,” Louis says, mouth forming a little circle. “Well, that was easy.” 

“Is that the only reason you broke in?” Liam asks. 

Louis rolls his eyes at Liam, shaking his head before he leans in and steals a kiss, and two, and three, and four. “You taste like ham,” Louis says, pulling away. “I miss your Liam taste.” 

“It’s the sandwich,” Liam says, holding it up and smiling at Louis. 

“Oh, thanks,” Louis says, leaning forward and taking a bite off of it. “I’m starving. Are you allowed to go out there and just randomly grab stuff off the shelves since you own the place? Like, for example, if your beautiful and charming boyfriend wanted something to eat, but left his wallet in the car, would said beautiful and charming boyfriend be able to talk his beautiful and muscular and oh so wonderful boyfriend into sneaking out there and grabbing him something?” 

“No,” Liam says honestly. “You couldn’t, but the, um… What did you call me again?”

“Beautiful, muscular, wonderful, sexy, big strong boyfriend,” Louis says. 

“Um, yeah, that boyfriend would say to look in the mini fridge behind you and take whatever you want.” 

Louis smiles brightly at Liam, all of his teeth showing before he turns his chair around, scoots across the floor, and digs around and pulls out his own sandwich. He rolls his chair back over to Liam’s, pushes them as close together as he can so he can swing his legs over Liam’s lap. “Can we call this a date?” 

“I’d be a horrible boyfriend if our dates considered of eating lunch in a room that's as big as a bathroom.” 

“Well, we haven’t been on many other dates lately,” Louis says, picking some of the lettuce off of his sandwich. 

“That’s not my fault,” Liam says. “You’ve been busy.”

“I know, sorry. And I haven’t really been busy. My kids are just driving me up a wall, they’re getting crazy, and just, it’s a lot to handle. Honestly, I feel like they’re young again. Like a two and seven year old running around and trying to destroy everything instead of a fifteen and ten year old. I wanted them to get along, but I didn’t want that to mean they’re angry with me.” 

“I get it,” Liam says. “I’m not angry about it, you know, like, you’re supposed to be there with them before you’re here with me, so I’m okay with the fact that we haven’t had time to go out together. So don’t think I’m mad, okay?” 

“Well, to be honest, I thought that if you were angry about anything it would be about what Niall was saying about Zayn.”

“Oh… Well, I won’t lie to you and say that it was something that I liked hearing, but it’s not the biggest deal. Niall’s upset because he thinks I’m stealing you and Zayn is stealing Harry, so he lashed out. He didn’t say any of those things to Zayn and he didn’t hurt his feelings so I don’t see why I should hold a grudge against a ten year old,” Liam says, taking a bite from his sandwich. 

“You shouldn’t,” Louis says. “He didn’t mean it. He’s ten, and he’s jealous, but it has nothing to do with you or Zayn. I need to start spending more time with him and making sure that he knows that he comes first. And Harry needs to start spending more time with him as well. You and Zayn haven’t done anything wrong, and he didn’t mean anything he said. I promise.” 

“Louis, I know that,” Liam says gently. “I, obviously, didn’t like hearing that stuff said about Zayn, but how stupid would it be to be angry with a child for being a child?”

“Almost as stupid as a date in a security office,” Louis says, winking at Liam.

“Oh god, just eat your food,” Liam says. “I need to finish this and get back to work. You’ve made my lunch break impossibly longer than it needed to be.”

“You’re the boss, you can do whatever you want. And the first thing you should do is go out there and steal me a package of cookies.”

“Mini fridge foods only,” Liam says, pointing at the black box behind Louis. “Only.”

~~~ 

“I’m locked in my own closet,” Louis mumbles into the phone. 

“What are you talking about?” Liam asks, using his shoulder to hold the phone against his ear as he makes Zayn’s dinner. “Can you get out?”

“Unfortunately,” Louis sighs. 

“What’s going on?” Liam asks. “Actually, just give me a second, okay? I need to give Zayn this food.”

Liam sets his phone down on the counter and sets the food down in front of Zayn’s chair. Walking into the living room he sees Zayn flipping casually through one of his books, lying back against the couch cushions like he wants to fall back asleep. 

“Are you ready to eat?” Liam asks, standing in front of the couch. 

Zayn closes the book, pushes it to the other side of the couch, and holds his hands up in the air for Liam to grab him. 

Liam carries him back to the kitchen, sets him down in his chair, and hands him his little plastic fork. “Milk or juice?”

“Milk,” Zayn answers, sitting up on his knees and putting a piece of cut up chicken in his mouth. 

Liam grabs his phone off the counter, presses it against his ear as he makes Zayn a glass of milk. “Okay, sorry, so explain what happened.” 

Louis sighs into the receiver. “It’s nothing.” 

Liam rolls his eyes, setting the milk down in front of Zayn and sitting the chair next to him. “Louis, you’ve locked yourself in your closet, it’s obviously something. What happened?”

“It’s just been a long day,” Louis says. “I went into work this morning and it was like the kids decided they were all going to be collectively bad, so after I’d get one to stop the next would go. The knocked over a gallon of acrylic purple paint on the carpeted section, so I had to stay after and scrub it from the rug. They broke one of the swings outside, and half of them decided to scream during snack time. It was such a long day and then, when I got home, Harry was in a bad mood and so was Niall. They’ve been horrible all afternoon, so they’re fighting with each other and with me and it’s too much.”

“Okay, well, you shouldn’t be hiding in your closet. I think you should go out there and send them to their rooms. You need to talk to them. It’s not fair that they keep taking their aggressions out on you.” 

“I just don’t know what’s wrong with them,” Louis huffs into the phone. “They’ve been so happy, at least with each other. Harry’s made a few comments about our relationship, but at this point I’d be worried if he didn’t, so I just thought he was being himself and not that he was angry with me. He just seems so mad at me today, Niall, too. I don’t know what I could have done to Niall.”

“You didn’t do anything,” Liam says, picking up a napkin and wiping the milk off Zayn’s chin before it drips onto his shirt. “Kids take things out on their parents all the time, but you need to let them know that it’s not okay. You can’t keep letting them walk all over you.”

“I don’t,” Louis protests, sounding less sad than he did a second ago. “Liam, you don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“I see it all the time,” Liam says. “Especially with Harry.”

“You’ve only seen one side of him. I’ve known him since he was a newborn, he’s my son, and he’s not walking all over me. He has some respect for me.”

“Not enough to the point where he treats you fairly,” Liam retorts. 

“He’s a teenager,” Louis snaps. “He treats everyone unfairly. They don’t give out special treatment to certain people, they attack and hate everyone.”

“I understand that, but Louis, you’re hiding in your closet to get away from your children, don’t you think that means you need have a talk with them and possibly reconsider how you’re allowing them to treat you?” 

“Your son is three years old, Liam, so what would you know about raising a child and a practical pre-teen? You wouldn’t. Maybe in twelve years we can have this discussion, but not right now.”

“Louis, I’m not questioning or insulting your parenting. I care about you, and I think it’s unfair for you to have to hide in your closet because it’s the only place you can find peace. I’m trying to help you,” Liam explains. 

“While insulting me,” Louis says flatly. 

“Louis, you’re taking everything I say the wrong way.”

“I’m not, actually,” Louis says. “Just, I have to go, all right? I don’t want to talk right now, not anymore, so. Whatever, I don’t know, just… Bye, okay?”

Liam doesn’t get to answer before he hears the dial tone in his ear. Frowning he pulls the phone away from his ear and stuffs it back in his pocket. 

He would be put off if he didn’t already know how difficult the Tomlinson men are, how aggressively pushy they can be, even when they have the greatest of intentions. So he doesn’t take Louis snapping on him too badly, until it’s three days later and Louis still hasn’t spoken to him. 

And it’s not like Liam has tried, he’s sent text after text after text, called him twice in that time frame as well. 

~~~ 

Liam is lying on the couch, reading a book while Zayn naps when he hears a knock on his front door. He stuffs his bookmark between the pages, sets it down on the couch, and goes to see who has come to his house. He can see Louis through the window next to the door, chewing on his fingernails as he waits for the door to be opened. 

Liam releases a deep breath, grabbing onto the doorknob and pulling the door open. 

“Um, hi,” Louis says nervously. “Can I come in?” 

Liam nods his head, pulls the door open wider, and allows Louis to enter. “What are you doing here?” Liam asks as he closes the front door. He’s not asking because he wants to be mean; he’s asking because Louis has seemed a little… less than thrilled with Liam, and he didn’t expect to see him anytime soon. 

“I came to apologize, like properly, because I’m so fucking sorry for being such an asshole, like, I shouldn’t have taken all of my stress out on you. That was… God, I’m so sorry. I was just angry, and looking for an outlet. I shouldn’t have treated you like a punching bag. You’re so… Liam, you’re so good, and I feel horribly, and I would get it, like, if you wanted to break up with me, but I’d like to throw it out there that I would really, really, really, like it if you didn’t. Like, a lot,” Louis says, finishing with a huff before he bites his lip nervously, looking at Liam with such sad eyes that Liam’s heart breaks a little bit. 

“Why would I break up with you?” Liam asks, ignoring Louis’ apology completely because the sight of Louis about to break down in his entryway is a little overwhelming. 

“Because I’m an asshole, a right monster, and I deserve it? That’s how it works. I fuck up, and then it’s over,” Louis says quietly. 

Liam shakes his head, frustrated with Louis. “I don’t know what it is about the last name Tomlinson that makes it so difficult for you all to understand that I’m not any of your ex boyfriends. I’m not. So that means I’m not to break up with you because you yelled at me a couple times. You’re stressed and it’s a natural reaction to snap at people. I can hardly hold it against you. Was it upsetting? Yes. Was it uncalled for? Probably. Was it the end of the world? No, because all you did was get annoyed and hang up, but what bothered me was you choosing to avoid me,” Liam says. 

“But not only that, I’ve told Harry this at least every week since I’ve met you, but he still hasn’t figured it out, because I’m still getting threatened by him, which is fine, because honestly, your son loves you, and if threatening me is how he shows it, then I can live with it. But I guess that in my attempt to make him understand I didn’t actually stop to see if you were getting it, which, like I said, I think there is some Tomlinson guy gene where you don’t pay attention, so I’ll tell you, and listen to me when I say this, I am not one of your ex boyfriends. I’m not…I’m not an asshole. 

“I know that they fucked up, I know, but that’s not me, okay? I’m not going to hurt you for the sake of hurting you, and I’m not going to break up with you, because you were in a bad mood. I just…that’s not me. I’m not that person. I’m happy with you, you know, like, when you’re in a good mood and I’m not kind of yelling at you, so unless you’re planning on breaking up with me, then you’re stuck with me.” 

“Okay,” Louis says quietly, nodding his head before he rushes forward and wraps himself around Liam. “I’m sorry. Fuck, I’m so sorry. I’m an idiot.” He whispers the words against Liam’s neck and squeezes Liam tighter with every mumbled apology. 

“Stop apologizing,” Liam says, pinching Louis’ side. It amazes him how different Louis is from what he first thought of him. Louis went from loud and confident and overbearing to insecure and unsure and hesitant. He’s never met anyone as complex as Louis is, someone who can go to any length in order to get the attention of someone, but became a nervous wreck when they finally have them. He’s always surprised by Louis, always amazed at the way that he operates, and how he’s never who Liam thinks he is. 

“I’m sor—“ Louis starts to say, stopping when he pulls his head out of the crook of Liam’s neck and sees the look Liam is giving him. “All right, I won’t say it, but you should know that I don’t think you’re anyone other than Liam. I didn’t mean to compare you to anyone else, but we just…it was our first fight, and I wasn’t how you’d react, especially since it was entirely my fault.”

“I was angry,” Liam admits. “I didn’t like fighting with you, but seeing you about to cry made me realize that it was stupid to ever get upset about it, because you were just having a rough time with your kids. It’s understandable.”

“It’s not, actually,” Louis says. “You’re just a saint. And you’re right about home, it’s awful, I’ve raised monsters.”

“Well, why don’t you send your little monsters away for the weekend. You can send them to your moms, a place you won’t have to worry so much about them, and then you can spend it with me. Or alone. I’d understand if you wanted to be alone for a couple of days.” 

“God, no, shut up. That sounds awful, truly horrific. Being alone? No, I’d rather stay here and eat all your food and use all your shampoo and make you do my laundry then, I’ll do the dishes and look cute on the couch. It sounds perfect, right?”

“Lovely,” Liam says sarcastically and honestly before he kisses Louis.


	21. Chapter 21

“Let me get this straight,” Harry says slowly, standing in the middle of Niall’s bedroom while Louis packs Niall’s bag for the weekend. He gave Niall the opportunity but he had only packed a pair of socks, a clean shirt, and several different kinds of video games. Louis’ parents don’t even have a game console, so Louis had to take over. He replaces Niall’s video games with his home, adds more socks and clothing while Niall watches from the bed, complaining when Louis tries to put the wrong shirt in the bag. 

“If you want to pick out your clothes, then pack your bag yourself,” Louis says, pointing a finger at Niall. “And what do you need to get straight, Harry?” 

“Besides your hair,” Niall says, clapping his hands together with a laugh. 

“Ha, not funny at all,” Harry says, rolling his eyes. “No, what I want to get straight is the fact that you’re shipping us off for the weekend. Two days and three nights at grandma’s house so you can play family with your boyfriend. That’s what I’d like to get straight, because I don’t really think it’s fair that you’re playing family while we’re away.” 

“That’s not what this is about,” Louis says. “You both have been on your worst behavior and I need a break, so you’re going to your grandmothers house for the weekend.” 

“Because you want to play family with another family,” Harry says, folding his arms over his chest and looking at Louis like he dares him to try and deny it. 

“What’s playing family?” Niall asks, looking at Harry then Louis then back at Harry. 

“It means that we’re being shipped off so that Dad can go over to Liam’s house and act like his husband and Zayn’s other father. We’re in the way so he’s making us leave.”

“You’re adopting Zayn?” Niall asks Louis, sitting up straighter and looking at him with his mouth dropped open. 

“No, I’m not,” he replies. “I’m not. I’m never adopting again. I stopped because my family felt complete with the two of you, okay? No one else.”

“Then why are you adopting Zayn?” Niall asks at the exact same time Harry says, “if your family is complete then why do you need Liam?”

“One at a time,” Louis says, taking a moment to look at each of his son’s. “We’ll start with the youngest.” 

“If you’re finished adopting, then why are you adopting Zayn?” Niall asks, looking at Louis like his young life will be over if he says the wrong thing. 

“I’m not. I have no intentions of adopting Zayn.” 

“So what if you and Liam get married?” Niall asks. 

“That’s not happening,” Harry interrupts, giving Louis a look. 

“I’m not thinking that far ahead, but if, big if, Liam and I get married, then maybe we’ll talk about it, but at the end of the day, you’re both my sons and Zayn is his son, okay?” Louis says, nodding at his children who nod back at him. “In the meantime there will be no adoptions taking place by anyone.”

“I’m sure,” Harry says. “You said your family is complete, if that’s true then why do you need Liam? Why do you have to have some super private weekend with him while we’re not around? I already know you let us go out last weekend so you could see Liam. Why don’t you just let us go out again tonight? Why does it have to be all weekend?”

“It’s all weekend because I said it’s all weekend,” Louis says. “And my dating Liam has nothing to do with wanting to better this family. What could I possibly want to replace? Nothing. I have everything I need with you and Niall, but I want to have someone else in my life. Liam and Zayn aren’t going to replace you.”

“Except they already are,” Harry says. He looks at Louis for a moment before he shakes his head. “You know what, whatever. I don’t care. Have fun with your boyfriend this weekend.”

“Harry,” Louis calls helplessly, watching as his son retreats from the room. “Harry, come on.” He walks towards Niall’s door and sees Harry grabbing his bag out of his bedroom before he makes his way down the hall. “Harry.”

“Dad, just let it go,” Harry mumbles, turning the corner and disappearing. 

Louis hears the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut, a sign that Harry is outside waiting for Nick’s mother to arrive. He turns around to face Niall, sees his youngest slipping his bag onto his shoulders. 

“Why do you both have to make each other sad?” Niall says, raising his arms in the air in an exaggerated shrug. “Why do you people have to make everything so difficult?”

“Niall,” Louis says, watching as his youngest son tries to storm past him. Louis stops him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Nothing Harry said is true. You’re going to grandmas because it’s been a long week and you’ve been so angry that I need a mental break, okay? It doesn’t mean that I’m replacing you, or that I don’t love you. It also doesn't mean that I’m pretending I have a new family because my family starts with Harry and ends with you. All right?” 

“All right,” Niall says, huffing out a breath. “You still made Harry sad.” 

Louis shrugs his shoulders, because really, what hasn’t upset Harry these past few months. “He’ll be okay, he knows everything that I told you. Maybe you could help him see it this weekend.” 

“I’ll think about it,” Niall says. “But right now I have to go sit outside with Harry, because I don’t want him to think I’m on your side and make him mad at me again.” Niall shrugs his shoulders before he walks down the hallway and disappears out of sight, book bag bouncing on his back

Louis takes a deep breath and tries to get rid of the ugly feeling in his stomach, the one that’s making him want to call Liam and cancel their plans. He feels a little shaky as he goes into his bedroom and packs his own bag for Liam’s. There’s a sinking feeling in his stomach as he drops a couple clean shirts into a bag. 

~~~~~ 

Liam is shaking with excitement as he gets his house ready for Louis. He’s already received the text that he’d be over shortly but he needs to do something with his hands, so he fluffs the pillows on the couch and tries not to glance at the clock too much as time slowly ticks away. 

He’s so incredibly nervous, not only for their big weekend together, but also because he’s sent Zayn to stay with his parents for the weekend, which means that this weekend it will just be the two of them. No kids, no worries about kids, nothing to do with children for an entire weekend. Well, that’s not true. Liam knows that his mother will send him pictures and videos and that he’ll want to talk to Zayn before bedtime. He also assumes that Louis will want to hear from his own children, but overall it’s just the two of them. And this is a major fucking step in their relationship, or Liam likes to think. 

He can’t help but laugh because something like this happens so much sooner for couples where neither of them have children. Liam remembers stay over with people he wasn’t even dating, just people had casual things week after a few weeks. Being with Louis is different, and not just because of the children. 

Liam doesn’t want this to be just like any other relationship, he wants this one to be different, which is why he thinks this weekend will be good for them, especially for a stressed out Louis. 

As soon as his mind begins to drift to thoughts of Louis is when he hears a knock on his door, followed by a chirp of his phone that has a text notification reading, I’m here.

Liam pats the pillow in his hand a few times before he tosses it down and goes to answer the door. Louis looks tired when Liam sees him, but he doesn’t think too much of it because Louis is here and he’s smiling at Liam as he enters the house, bad in hand. 

“Where’s Zayn?” Louis asks, looking around. “Is he taking a nap? I’d say it’s a bit late for a nap but it’s probably his third one of the day.” 

“I’m not sure if he’s napping because I brought him over to my moms,” Liam says, taking Louis’ bag out of his hands. 

“Oh. Well, what time will he be back?”

“It’ll be sometime in the afternoon on Sunday,” Liam says while he walks towards his bedroom. He knows that Louis will follow, or at least he hopes so. He tosses Louis’ bag on the floor next to his bed and turns around to see Louis looking at him in confusion. “What?” 

“Zayn’s not going to be here all weekend?”

“Yeah,” Liam says slowly, wondering why Louis doesn’t understand. His mouth drops open slightly when he realizes that Louis might not be comfortable with it being just the two of them. “I can bring him back, if you want. I didn’t realize you’d want him here.”

“No, no,” Louis says, shaking his head. “It’s kind of a relief that he’s not here actually. God, sorry, that sounded horrible. Sorry. I’ve just had a long day. Harry’s a bit angry that he has to spend the weekend away, but I think he’s even more angry that I’m going to be seeing you while he’s gone. He’s also convinced himself that he’s away because I want to start working on making on a family with you. So naturally, he voiced these opinions out loud and Niall thinks I’m going to be adopting Zayn this weekend, so I say that it’s good Zayn isn’t here because I think it’ll mean that my boys will be less angry with me when I pick them up on Sunday.” 

Liam frowns as he watches Louis deflate after his explanation, the way he shrugs his shoulders and falters like he wants to add more before he huffs out a puff of air and smiles slightly at Liam. 

“Would it be completely and utterly wrong of me to say that your kids are odd?”

“No, they’re horrible. I think Niall is okay with me; he at least gave me a hug goodbye. Harry kind of just glared at me and threw his bag in my mom’s trunk,” Louis pauses and takes a deep breath. “I’m glad it’s just the two of us this weekend. I think my kids might have ended up killing me if I didn’t ship them off.”

“You need a nap,” Liam says, walking over and grabbing Louis’ hand, pulling him towards the bed. “You’re going to lie down and I’ll start dinner, okay?”

“I don’t need a nap,” Louis says in protest as Liam tugs him onto the mattress, throwing his duvet over Louis’ body. 

“You do, actually. You’re stressed and tired, I can see it on your face, so you’re going to lie down for an hour or so and then, we can have dinner together. After dinner we can do whatever you want. We can go out, we can watch a movie, whatever. I just need you to sleep now, okay?” 

“Well,” Louis says, fixing the blanket. “I’ll probably need a good night kiss.”

Liam rolls his eyes because the statement is just so entirely Louis that it spreads radiating warmth throughout his chest. He leans down and kisses him, brushing his thumb across Louis’ cheek before he pulls away. 

~~~ 

“It’s nothing fancy,” Liam says, guiding Louis into the kitchen for dinner. “But I did bring…” 

“Is that alcohol?” Louis asks, interrupting Liam. 

“Yes. I thought you might enjoy a little wine with dinner in order to take the edge off from a long week.” 

“You thought right,” Louis says, smiling up at Liam. “And nothing special, this looks delicious. I’m starving.”

Liam guides Louis around to the other side of the table while trying to fight down a blush from the compliment. He really hadn’t tried to make the meal anything special, just a simple beef with gravy and peas and broccoli and carrots and potatoes. He really wasn’t sure what kind of vegetables Louis liked so he included as many as possible. 

“What’s for dessert?” Louis asks expectantly as he sits down at the table. “Did you prepare something fancy?”

“No, actually,” Liam says, pushing Louis’ chair in before he takes his own seat. “But Zayn does have some cookies in the shape of butterflies that we made earlier in the week. He might let you eat some of them.” 

“Butterflies?”

“Yes, we have a drawer full of cookie cutters and while I wanted the ones shaped like trains or turtles, he wanted butterflies. And naturally, his opinion matters more than mine, so we have butterfly cookies with green and purple icing that are topped with rainbow sprinkles.” 

“Sounds delicious,” Louis says, taking a sip of his wine. “Although I will say this, your son is the weirdest three year old I’ve ever met. First, he wants to sleep, he actually likes it. Second, he wants to do chores. I bet if I gave him a mop he’d clean my floors for me. And lastly, butterfly cookies. Where did you get this one, Liam Payne?”

“I don’t know,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders. “I got really lucky.”

“A kid like that is bound to grow up and be the world’s greatest teenager.”

“Louis,” Liam says sadly. “Your kids are great, they’re just… Harry’s really passionate when it comes to you. And Niall is really passionate about the two of you, and sometimes it’s rather conflicting for him, but neither of them are bad.” 

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Louis says, shaking his head and grabbing his utensils. “I want to enjoy this dinner. Then, I’d like to have the longest cuddle in the history of the world on your couch.” 

~~~ 

After dinner they change into pajamas - an easy take since the two of them are both sleeping in just bottoms - and put on The Avengers. Louis forces Liam to lie down on the couch before he crawls on top of him and rolls to the side so he can wedge himself between the back of the couch and Liam’s side. 

Liam likes the feeling of having Louis’ in his arms. He likes to be able to wrap an arm around him and lightly trail his fingers up and down his arm, feeling as goose bumps break out across his skin. He likes looking down and being able to see their legs intertwined and see Louis’ head resting over his heart. He hasn’t done this since Enny, the holding someone while they do absolutely nothing but just enjoy each other’s company. 

He thinks Louis is enjoying himself too, judging by the tiny little sighs he hears every once in a while, or the way Louis is dragging his fingers across the patch of skin showing between the bottom of his shirt and the waistband of his shorts. And honestly, Liam has no fucking idea what’s happening in the movie because he’s too focused on the movements of Louis’ hands as his fingers skirt along the edge of Liam’s shorts. 

“Are you watching?” Louis asks. 

Liam takes a quick look down to see that Louis isn’t looking at him, nor is he looking at the TV. Instead, his eyes are trained downwards towards where his hand is. 

“No, not really,” Liam says, clearing his throat. 

Louis nods against his chest before he slowly dips his fingers into the waistband of Liam’s shorts without any forewarning whatsoever. Liam shivers when he feels Louis’ touch, soft and unyielding. 

“Louis,” Liam says, feeling as Louis starts to stroke him, hand inside of Liam’s pajama bottoms. “We can’t do this here, my son sleeps here. I wouldn’t know the first thing about cleaning a couch. Let’s go to bed, okay?” 

“Yeah,” Louis breathes, pulling his hand out of Liam’s shorts. “Good idea.” 

Liam stumbles off the couch, turning off the television and lamp next to the couch on the end table. Louis grabs onto his hand so Liam can drag them towards his bedroom. The lights are flicking off behind him, Louis flipping the switches as they walk until they’re back in the bedroom, Louis letting go of Liam’s hand to crawl into bed. 

Liam crawls in behind him, getting under the covers before he immediately crawls on top of Louis’ connecting their lips together in a kiss, slow and smooth with steady flicks of his tongue along Louis’ lips until he opens his mouth up for him, allowing Liam’s tongue to slip inside. 

They kiss languidly, hips rolling together until Louis pulls away. Liam’s head is swimming, thick heavy thoughts of Louis’ body underneath, but tries to quiet his mind as he looks at Louis, trying to gauge why they’ve stopped. He feels Louis tugging on his waistband, the answer to a question he didn’t ask. He nods his head, leaning down to kiss Louis quickly before he shifts down, pulling Louis’ pants and boxers with him, throwing them off the side of the bed, followed by his own. 

“You sure?” Liam asks, kneeling in front of Louis. He watches as Louis shifts around a little, guiding himself closer to Liam. He doesn’t break eye contact, watches Liam as he does it. 

Something flashes across Louis’ eyes and Liam’s not sure he’s able to read it but luckily he doesn’t have to think too much into it because Louis is smiling at him softly, gently nodding his head. “I’m ready if you are.” 

Liam leans down, hovering over Louis’ body. He runs his fingers along Louis’ ribcage, feels the rise and fall of his chest, feels the steady beating of his heart before he leans down and kisses him. He doesn’t answer, hopes that his kiss and his touch are enough to let Louis know.


	22. Chapter 22

Liam wakes up before Louis, sitting up in the bed and glancing over to see Louis asleep on his stomach, hair covering his eyes, and blankets bunched up around his waist. He glances at the clock to see that it’s a little after eight. He rubs the sleep from his eyes with one hand, tosses the blankets off his naked body with the other. The air is cold on skin as he stands up and makes his way to his dresser, pulling out a pair of sweatpants and slipping them, not bothering to put on any boxers.

Liam watches Louis’ sleep for a moment, staring at him but remembering what happened the night before. It’s been a long time since he’s been with anyone in that way, and he feels a pleasant twist in his gut as he watches the rise and fall of Louis’ bare torso. He makes his way back over towards the bed. Leaning down he presses a kiss to Louis’ shoulder, reading down to pull the sheet up to his shoulders before he grabs his phone off the nightstand and quietly slips out of the bedroom and heads towards the kitchen.

He flips open his phone as he makes his way down the hallways, typing out a message to his mom to ask if Zayn’s awake. Sitting at the kitchen table, his phone begins vibrating in his hand, he glances down to see it’s a call from his mom. 

“Hello?” Liam says, pressing the talk button and setting the phone against his ear as he settles into the chair.

He hears shuffling before he hears his mothers voice saying, “It’s Dada, say hi.”

“Dada?”

“Hi, sweetheart. Are you having fun at Nana’s house?”

“Dada, I was sleeping,” Zayn says.

“Well, you can sleep later at naptime. Did you have breakfast?”

“Yeah, waffles,” Zayn says. 

“Don’t forget the strawberries,” Liam’s mother says in the background.

“Dada, where you?” 

“I’m at home, I’m with Louis’.”

“And Harry?”

Liam laughs lightly, mindful of Louis’ sleeping in the bedroom. “No, babe, he’s at his Nana’s house, just like you.”

“Oh,” Zayn says, and Liam feels like he can sense a frown on Zayn’s face.

“Can you tell Dada what you’re going to do today?” Liam asks, hoping to distract Zayn from thoughts of Harry or whatever else he might be thinking about.

Liam hears the floorboard creak and he glances up to see a sleepy Louis’ entering the kitchen as he listens to his mom tell Zayn what to tell Liam. He watches as Louis makes his way across the kitchen, dressed in a pair of Liam’s sweats and a pajama shirt. He drops down in Liam’s lap, swinging his legs across Liam’s thighs and resting his head on Liam’s shoulder as Zayn begins talking.

“We going swimming, we going to zoo, and we going everywhere,” Zayn says loudly and Liam imagines that he’s thrown his arms up in the air in excitement and to show just how wild their plans are going to be for the day.

“I wish I could go,” Liam says, wrapping his arm around Louis’ waist.

“You can’t,” Zayn says.

“I know, bub. But you’re going to have fun anyway, right? So you should go get ready and then, tell Nana that I’ll call you tonight before your bedtime, okay? We’ll talk later?”

“Okay, bye, Dada,” Zayn says.

Liam doesn’t get a change to reply before he hears the phone go quiet in his ear; pulling it away he sees that Zayn's already hung up on him. He sighs as he sets his phone down on the table.

“He hung up on me,” Liam says, tightening his fingers around Louis’ waist.

“You probably deserved it,” Louis says, yawning against Liam’s neck.

“Why would I deserve it?”

Louis pulls his face out of Liam’s neck, glances down at looks at him, a frown pulling at his lips. “Why aren’t you ever there when I wake up?”

“What are you talking about?” Liam asks in confusion, wondering what that has to do with his phone call with Zayn. 

“It’s just, you’re always gone in the morning after we’ve had sex. I don’t understand why.”

“We’ve only had sex once,” Liam says, attempting to wink at Louis when he finishes.

“Liam,” Louis says, sighing.

“I know, sorry, stupid joke. I’m not leaving the bed for any reason. Zayn was crying last time, and this time I just wanted to talk to him. Nothing else.”

“I know, and I’m being stupid, but it just… It makes me feel like I’m being used, you know? Like you’re never there, so I don’t know what to think,” Louis says, glancing down at Liam’s chest as he says it.

“Louis, that’s… I’m not using you. I wouldn’t,” Liam says, shaking his head. He reaches out and tilts Louis’ chin up so that he’s looking at him again. “I wasn’t there because of my son, and it had nothing to do with my feelings towards you. I woke up and you were sleeping, and I saw the time, so I thought it would be a good time to talk to Zayn. I was going to come back in when the call was finished but you had already woken up. I would never use you, ever. I wouldn’t. I really care about you, Lou, and that’s not… That’s not me.”

“I know, I'm just being silly, I guess,” Louis says, smiling. “Can we go back to bed? It’s too early to be awake when my only responsibilities are at my mother’s house.”

“Yeah, of course, but, uh, don't you want to call Harry and Niall, I mean while you’re awake and everything.”

Louis snorts, rolls his eyes as he climbs off Liam’s lap. “There’s not a chance in hell my kids are awake at,” he pauses to glance at the clock, “half past eight. Harry probably won’t wake up until after noon, and Niall will be up in about an hour, but definitely not before. He tries to sleep late, but he never has any luck, not like Harry.”

Liam stands up and follows Louis back to bed, dropping his phone on the bedside table before he crawls in bed. “Are we in bed to go back to sleep or…?” Liam asks, turning his head to watch as Louis removes his shirt.

Louis drops his shirt on the floor and crawls on top of Liam, straddling his waist. “Don’t look so smug about it,” he says before he leans down and kisses Liam.

~~~~~~

Louis pulls himself onto Liam’s counter, pushing himself backwards until the backs of his knees make contact the edge. They’re making dinner, chopping vegetables in Liam’s kitchen, and by they he means Liam. Louis is sneaking bites of food while Liam does all the hard work. He swings his feet back and forth, grabbing a piece of chopped tomato and puts it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully he says, “We should get to know each other.”

Liam glances up at him, cocking an eyebrow as he uses the knife in his hand to push some vegetables to the side. “Have we not done that already?” 

“Yeah, but I feel like we should tell each other more, like play a get to know each other game. 20 questions with however many questions I want to ask,” Louis says with a smile. 

Liam looks like he’s thinking about it for a moment, his face considering as he chops more vegetables. “All right, so what do you want to know?” 

“If you hadn’t have opened a grocery store what would you be doing?” 

“Easy, I wanted to be a fire fighter. I’d like to help people, to save them.”

“But then?” 

“I wanted a family more, had to do something that would make sure I would be around for Zayn and whatever other kids I’d end up having. Being a fire fighter puts your life at stake, and I want to be around as long as possible. Owning a grocery store isn’t anyone’s first choice, but it’s fun. I like it. What about you?”

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, although I wanted to be a drama teacher, but I like working with the younger kids, they’re fun, and they listen to everything I say and do everything I want, unlike my actual kids. Now, how many kids did you want to have? You mentioned you wanted to be alive for whatever other kids you might have, so how many was it?”

“Three, maybe four. Enny and I said we’d both know when we had the right amount, but we also talked about wanting at least three but not more than four. I guess I’ll never have that,” Liam says, glancing up at Louis with a soft smile. 

“What you want, like, boys and girls wise?” Louis asks. 

“I don’t know, I never thought about it. I guess it wouldn’t really matter, but one of each would be nice, or at least that’s what I always thought. Now I’m happy with having only Zayn, and not like he’d ever know the difference of having siblings or not.” 

“Yeah, but if you had a girl what would you name her?” 

“If Zayn was a girl he was going to be named Amara, so I guess that’s what I’d name my daughter. What about you? You chose adoption and you chose both Harry and Niall, were those always their names or did you pick them out?” Liam asks, moving away from the vegetables to turn on the burner on the stove, gathering the vegetables and dropping them inside the pan. 

“That was always their names,” Louis says, watching Liam cook their food. “It’s what they were named coming into the world, so it’s what their names should always be.” 

“You could have given them different names.”

“I could have, but I promised Harry’s mom that I would keep it as Harry.”

“Harry’s mom?” Liam asks, tilting in his head and looking at Louis. 

“Birth mother. She was young, too young to have a baby and she picked me over other couples to have him, said she knew that I’d love him better than anyone else could. She didn’t want to give him up, but she knew it would be the right thing, so she picked me, and said that the only thing she wanted was for him to always be Harry, she said she never wanted to wonder who was when he got older because if his name was the same then that would mean she didn’t have to think about it, he’d always be Harry, so if she was selfless enough to let me raise her child, then I could be selfless enough to do the one thing she asked of me.” 

“What about Niall? Why was he put up for adoption?”

“He wasn’t, at least not by his parents. They were deemed unfit, or something along those lines, I think. I don’t know all the details, I just know that Harry and I feel in love with him and they said he came from a bad home, needed someone to love him properly, and Harry swore to the woman that he’d be the bestest big brother in entire world, and he was ours. He came in as Niall James and it just felt silly changing it, because that’s him, he’s Niall and it doesn’t matter if he’s with an unfit mother or me or anyone else, he’s Niall, and I can’t take that away from him. The only thing I did was change their last names, I thought that would be okay.”

Liam looks at him for a moment, shaking his head and smiling at him. “You’re something else, you know that?” 

Louis blushes, his cheeks heating up as he smiles back at Liam. “Yeah, well.” 

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? And anyway, why’d you stop at two? Is that how many you wanted?”

“No,” Louis says, shaking his head slowly. “I wanted a big family, lots of kids, but life doesn’t always work out the way you planned. I’m a single parent, always have been, and it felt irresponsible having more than two. Plus, everything felt perfect when after I adopted them. I’ve never felt a desire for another. What about you? Do you ever find yourself wanting to have more than just Zayn?”

“No. I was scared enough being a single father to Zayn. I think a second one would send me into cardiac arrest. I don’t know how you managed with two.”

“Is it because Enny isn’t alive anymore? Is that why you don’t want more than one?”

“No,” Liam says, shaking his head. “She has nothing to do with it.”

“Do you miss her?” Louis asks, hoping that he hasn’t over stepped any boundaries.

Liam looks at him for a moment, releasing a deep breath as he shuts the stovetop off. “I do, but not in the crippling way that I did before. She’s still here, I still have Zayn, and I see her every time I look at him. And that’s enough for me, so I can’t say that I’d never expand my family because she’s not here. I’ve accepted what happened, I’ve moved on, and if I met the right person and we reached the point where expansion was an option… Well, let’s just say I’d be okay with taking on two more, or whatever that number may be,” Liam says, locking eyes with Louis for a moment before he turns away and begins making their plates. 

Louis watches him do it while he calculates Liam’s words carefully in his head. He knew what Liam was saying; he knows why he said an expansion of two on his family. He knows why Liam made sure they were making eye contact when he said it. He understands that Liam was basically telling him that if the time ever came where they had reached that level in their relationship that he would be okay with taking on the assumed responsibility for Niall and Harry. The thought causes his heart to pound in his chest, and makes him want to slide off the counter and kiss Liam until their thoughts are fuzzy and they taste like nothing except each other. 

They’re not there yet, but Louis hopes that one day they could be. 

Liam turns around in time to see Louis smiling at him and he smiles back softly, holding two plates of food in his hands. He tilts his head in the direction of the table and says, “Let’s eat, no more questions.”

~~~

“All right, tell me,” Louis says as he pulls away from his mother’s house with Harry sitting in the front next to him and Niall in the back seat. “Was it as awful as you thought it would be?”

“Was what?” Niall asks. 

“This weekend, you were both acting like it was going to be horrible, so I want to know if it was as bad as you thought it would be.”

“It was worse, probably,” Harry says, staring out of the car window. “I would have rather spent the weekend with one of my friends.”

“That will never happen,” Louis says, glancing at Harry quickly. Harry shrugs his shoulders, no doubt that he already knows Louis would never let him spend the weekend at a friend’s house, especially since the incidents with Caroline and Nick happened. 

“It wasn’t that bad,” Niall says. “Grandma took us out to dinner and we went to see a movie, and she bought me new movies.” 

“Well, I’m glad it wasn’t completely awful,” Louis says, easing onto the break as they approach a red light. He takes the opportunity to glance up at Niall in the rearview mirror, sees that he’s bobbing his head to the low hum of the radio. “Do you want to watch one of them when we get home?” 

“I guess so,” Niall says, nodding his head. 

The light changes and Louis presses down on the gas pedal, easing the car into motion as they continue to head home, the song from the radio quietly drifting through the air as he drives back across town. 

“What did you do with Liam this weekend?” Niall asks and Louis sees Harry tilt his head to the side, turning towards the direction of Louis to hear his answer. 

“Nothing really,” Louis says, “We stayed at his house and made dinner and watched movies, it was relaxing, but I missed you both, and I think he nearly lost his mind because he missed Zayn so much.”

“You spent the night there the entire weekend?” Harry asks, looking at Louis carefully. 

“Zayn wasn’t there?” Niall says. 

“No, Zayn went to his grandparents house, just like you did. And yes, I stayed at Liam’s house,” Louis says, addressing both of his sons. 

“I’m glad Zayn wasn’t there,” Niall says. “I didn’t really want him to get to spend the whole weekend with you.” 

“Well, you had nothing to worry about. Although, he was sad that he didn’t get to spend the weekend with you two,” Louis says, only lying a little because it’s not like Zayn mentioned Niall, but he really wants Niall to like Zayn, so he figures a white lie wouldn’t hurt anything. Niall will never know the difference. 

Louis glances up in time to see Niall pulling a face in the rear view mirror, sticking his tongue out in mock disgust. Louis shakes his head, laughing lightly as he rolls his eyes at his son. 

“The entire weekend?” Harry asks again, looking at Louis carefully, studying him for something. Louis’ not sure why, but he turns to look at Harry with a smile, nodding his head as he continues driving.

“The entire weekend,” Louis repeats. 

~~~

“You’re being weird.” 

Louis glances up from his phone, smile still on his lips as he sees Harry standing in front of him.

“How so?”

"You're supposed to be watching a movie with Niall, but you haven't stopped staring at your phone," Harry says, his tone accusing. 

"How would you know? You've been in your room, you didn't want to watch a movie with us," Louis says. "And what does it matter if I'm on my phone? Niall, are you okay if I use my phone." 

"I don't care," Niall says, his eyes never leaving the screen. 

"Niall, don't lie to him," Harry says. "Remember what we talked about at grandma's?" 

"Yeah," Niall says slowly, turning to look at Harry. "But Harry, I'm not mad about it. I don't care if he texts Liam." 

"Harry, leave him alone," Louis says, cutting Harry off from saying anything to Niall. 

"You were with Liam all weekend, why do you have to talk to him now? Why do you need to talk to him?"

"You were locked up all weekend, so why did you instantly make for your bedroom? And don't argue about it, your grandma told me how you stayed in the guest room almost all weekend." 

"I didn't want to be there! You made us go because you wanted to be with Liam." 

"No," Louis says, shaking his head. " I made you go because you had an attitude last week, it had nothing to do with Liam. You and Niall both kept giving me grief for no reason, like you are now."

"I'm not doing anything," Harry protests, looking at Niall for help. 

"Harry, I don't understand," Louis says, holding a hand up to tell Niall not to talk. "Why are you so upset? Can you talk to me? Just tell me what's going on." 

"No, just... Why do you have to keep talking to Liam?" 

"If you're this upset about it then I'll put my phone up for the night and we'll finish the movie, the three of us, but I still don't understand why this is making you so upset," Louis says carefully. 

"It's not the phone. It's not your stupid texts. You shipped us off so you could be with Liam. And you can say that's what you did but you did. You did that," Harry says. "Then, you spent the weekend with him."

"Harry," Louis says, sighing, "I'm allowed to do these things, I'm an adult. You don't need to worry about me." 

"Yes, I do. You're always doing this stuff; you don't know what you're doing. You're going to get hurt. It's the same every single time, you spend the night with them and everything falls apart. This is going to fall apart and you're going to get hurt." 

"Harry, I love you, and I appreciate your concern, but I know what I'm doing, okay? You don't have to worry about me or my relationship." 

"That's bullshit," Harry shouts. 

"Harry!" 

"No," Harry says, shaking his head. "You just can't see it. You just don’t care."

"What can't I see, Harry? Hmm? What don’t I care about?"

"Us. You don’t care about us, because you can’t see that no one likes that you're dating Liam. No one. Niall, tell him," Harry says, his eyes pleading with Niall. 

Louis shifts in his seat to look at his youngest son. "Do you not like that I'm with Liam? You can tell me, I won't be angry, no matter what you say."

Niall looks at Louis, eyes wide as he struggles to form words. "I don't know, I don't know," he stutters looking between Harry and Louis. "I don't know."


	23. Chapter 23

“Niall,” Harry shouts. “What do you mean you don’t know? Tell him what you told me this weekend.”

“Harry, stop,” Louis says, not turning his attention away from his cowering ten year old. “Niall, you can tell me anything. I mean it, anything. If you’re not happy about something, or if you’re not happy about my being with Liam, then tell me. I’m not angry and I won’t be angry, but say what you want to say, don’t say what you think you have to say.” 

“I wasn’t feeding him information, I wasn’t telling him what to say to you. He came to me about it. He started the entire conversation, but he always makes me bring it to you, because he’s too scared to do it himself, and now I look like the bad guy.”

“Harry, please,” Louis breathes out, shifting around to look at Harry. “Please, just give it a rest, okay? I know how you feel. I do, but I want to talk to Niall. I want to know what he has to say. So, if you could just sit down. Please.” 

“I don’t know what I think,” Niall says, interrupting Harry from arguing back. “Liam’s nice, but I don’t know what to think about him being your boyfriend.” 

“Okay,” Louis says slowly, nodding his head. “You don’t know what to think about him being my boyfriend, but you like him, right? Or do you, okay, what did you talk about this weekend with Harry? What did you tell him?” 

“He said that Liam was nice but you’re never home, you don’t have time for anything or anyone other than Liam, he hates Zayn, doesn’t like that Liam always brings him over to the house. He’s worried that you and Liam will get married and you’ll be Zayn’s new dad and that you’ll forget about him,” Harry says, answering for Niall. 

“Harry,” Niall says, gritting his teeth and ball his hands up into fists. 

“What? You said that, and it’s not like you were ever going to tell him what you said.” Harry says. 

“I told you that, I didn’t tell Dad that. You’re always talking too much, shut up. Shut up. Shut up,” Niall shouts. 

“I’m telling him what you said,” Harry replies. “You wanted to talk this weekend, you wanted to stay awake all night and have some whiny little chat about Liam and Dad, and so we did. We had that conversation, but you’re never going to tell him how you feel, so I’m helping you.” 

“You’re not helping me, you’re being mean,” Niall shouts. “You don’t know how to keep your big, fat mouth shut. You’re always talking, talking, talking, but you never listen. You never listen. You don’t care what anyway has to say, because I can tell Dad whatever I want.”

“All right, so tell him. Tell him how you really feel,” Harry says. 

“I feel like I’m going to break Harry’s neck,” Niall shouts, attempting to jump up, only to be stopped by Louis. 

“Niall, calm down,” Louis says, placing a firm hand on Niall’s knee. “It’s all right.”

“No, he swore that he wouldn’t tell you. You promised, Harry.”

“You weren’t going to tell him,” Harry says, his voice going a little high. “You weren’t, so I did. Why do I always have to be the one everyone is angry at? He said he wanted to know.” 

“All right. We’re going to try this a different way. Obviously you’re both having issues that we need to discuss. Harry, since you’re in the mood to be vocal, we’ll start with you, but Niall, you need to think of what it is you’re going to tell me, because you can’t tell Harry the truth and then lie to me. I won’t know what’s going with you, bug, and if you’re not happy then, well, I want to know. So think about it, okay?" 

Niall nods his head and uncurls his fists, leaning back against the couch. “Okay.” 

Louis pats his knee once more before he turns around and looks at Harry, ignoring the eye roll and saying, “Why don’t you like Liam?

“What’s to like?” Harry asks, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Harry,” Louis says, releasing a deep breath. “I’m being serious about this, so can you do the same thing? Can you do that for me? You came in here and you wanted to talk about Liam, so we’re talking about Liam. Why don’t you like him? Why don’t you want us together?”

“I just don’t.”

“Harry.”

“I don’t know! I don’t like him. I don’t like him. I don’t like him,” Harry says, annunciating each word differently as he says it. 

“Okay, I get it. I’ve gotten it. Why though? That’s the part I don’t get.” 

Harry groans, running his fingers through his curls. “He’s nice, okay? But that doesn’t mean it’ll last, and you shouldn’t be blinded by his stupid bushy eyebrows and dumb smile, and by him having a kid, which is new, because you’ve never dated anyone with a kid before, but that doesn't mean he’s not going to be an asshole. They’re always assholes. Always. Some of them are better at hiding it than others. What about Mike? Remember Mike? He used to kiss your ass but as soon as you were gone he’d treat me like shit.”

“I broke up with him as soon as I found out about that,” Louis counters. 

“Or the one a couple years ago who used to take Niall’s money? He used to take us out all the time, would play soccer with us in the backyard, but he was a bad guy. He wasn’t good for you and he wasn’t good for this family. Or Marcus, remember Marcus? He was a fucking nightmare to you. He liked girls and was using you to figure out some gay crisis bullshit and remember when he left while he was supposed to be watching us? Remember that?” Harry rants. 

“All right, I get it. I have a bad track record, but that doesn’t have anything to with why you don’t like Liam. So, again, why don’t you like Liam? And maybe this time you can clean up your language a bit, yeah?”

“The point is that you don’t have good judgment. You don’t know what you’re doing when you go out on dates. You’re always messing things up. You can’t see when someone is going to be bad for you, so why do you want to get hurt? You keep doing this and I don’t understand why. We’re fine. Our family is fine. We don’t need anyone else.” 

“Harry,” Louis says, shaking his head. “No one is trying to expand our family. I can’t say what could happy years from now, but right now, in this moment, no one is going to break up what we have in this family. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Yes, I do. You wouldn’t be dating if you weren’t trying to get some bullshit perfect family with what, two dads? Yeah, real great, nice going.” 

Louis looks at Harry; a wave of confusing washing over him as he struggles to find meaning in Harry’s statement, because neither of his children has ever shown that Louis’ sexuality bothers them. He always thought that when they got older that they might be upset that they’re missing out on something that their friends have, a mother. But Niall and Harry have never complained about that, they asked, of course, but they never fought it, never acted like it was something that they wanted. But now…now, Harry is making Louis wonder if it’s not about Liam but about him, if Harry’s deep-rooted hatred with the relationship is because of Louis. “You’re angry and upset at Liam because of me? Because I’m gay, so you can’t have a typical family life like everyone else.”

“No,” Harry says, shaking his head. And when Louis looks even more confused he adds, “It’s not you, Dad. It’s not you; it’s him. I don’t like him. And I don’t want a typical family; I like our family, our family, meaning just the three of us. We don’t need anyone else, we never have, but you’re always trying to force it on us. I don’t like Liam. I just don’t. I know you think he’s great, but he’s not. He’s not great, Dad.” 

“You don’t like him because you’re worried that he’s going to break up our family?”

“No, oh my god, you’re not listening to me,” Harry says, groaning in frustration. “Just, whatever. I don’t care anymore. Ask Niall what he thinks, because I don’t have anything. I don’t.” Harry shrugs his shoulders, his body sagging in defeat as he looks at Louis for a moment before he turns to look at the floor. 

“Harry, no. I don’t understand. We have to talk about this. You can’t come in here and say that you don’t want me dating Liam and not explain; you can’t say that you hate someone and not explain. You have to talk to me about it.” 

“Well, tough luck, because I’m not going to,” Harry says, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“He thinks that you don’t know what you’re doing,” Niall says and Louis turns around on the couch to look at his youngest. “He said he doesn’t want Liam to become our other dad, he said he’s not as nice as you think he is. He said you’re blind, and that he’s nice now but it’ll change. He thinks Liam is lying to you and using you. He think it’s was Liam’s idea to send us away for the weekend, he said that Liam made you do it so that you two could be alone for the weekend because Liam doesn’t like how Harry is always messing up your time together. He said Liam hates him and that soon he’ll hate me because I hate Zayn and that you like Liam so much that you’ll end up hating us too, but then you’ll get your heart broken.” 

“Did you say this?” Louis asks, craning his neck to look at Harry. Harry’s glaring at Niall, anger written in his eyes at his little brother’s confession. Louis wants to point out that he has no reason to be angry, he has no right to be mad at Niall when he did the same thing to him not that long ago, but he holds it in, because the anger in Harry’s eyes tells him that Niall is telling the truth. “If I get hurt, then it’s my fault. It’ll be my fault. It’s not your job to try and protect me from other people. I’m supposed to protect you, so you don’t have to worry so much about me. You don't have to worry about how Liam feels about you, because the second he says something about either of you that sets off a red flag in my mind, he’s gone. He’s not angry with Niall for what he said about Zayn, he’s not angry with you for anything you’ve done to him.” 

“Because you know everything he’s thinking, don’t you?” Harry says, rolling his eyes. “You know nothing, absolutely nothing. If you knew how to look after yourself then we wouldn’t be in this situation, would we?”

“Harry, don’t be mean,” Niall shouts. 

“Why don’t you tell him what you think, Niall? Tell him how you cried at Grandma’s house because you were worried what he was doing with Zayn, how you’re worried that he loves him more? Are you going to tell him that? Or, do you want to keep blabbing about everything I say?”

“Shut up,” Niall shouts. 

“Enough,” Louis says, interrupting both of his sons. “Enough. “I don’t want to talk about this while everyone is so upset, so Harry go to your room, Niall go to your room. I don’t care what you do in there, I don’t care if you’d rather go into each other’s rooms, but I don’t want to hear any more arguing about this, okay?” Louis instructs, looking at Niall, who nods his head, and then, looking at Harry, who rolls his eyes but nods his head all the same. “We can talk about this later, but that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to talk. We’re not going to argue, we’re not going to yell, and we’re not going to scare each other into giving certain answers. Understood?” When both of his sons nod, he says, “good, now go to your room.” 

~~~

It’s been a half an hour since they separated and Louis is still sitting on the couch, a skein of yarn on his lap as he clears his mind through knitting. He knows that Harry and Niall are in the same room, heard one of their bed room doors open fifty minutes ago, a careful knock, and then the sound of another door opening and closing. He works the yarn across the needle, letting his mind get lost in the rhythmic routine of the process. Wrap, push, loop, twist, loop, and pull. Wrap, push, loop, twist, loop and pull until he’s no longer thinking about anything his sons said to him. 

Only… 

He really can’t stop thinking about it. He can’t stop thinking about the way that Harry’s eyes shined with desperation and sadness, the way that neither of them were really able to say what they wanted to say, too afraid of hurting his feelings. He doesn’t know what to do about it, about his kids and the heavy feeling in his chest because he knows that Niall cried. He’s angry with himself for not noticing that Niall was upset when he called, he should have been able to sense it. He blames himself for being so wrapped up in his weekend with Liam for missing that his children were upset for reasons that didn’t have to do with being at their grandmother’s house. 

He doesn’t know what to do because the thing that he wants, the thing that brings him happiness is what’s upsetting his children, but what makes them pleased is what is going to make him upset. 

He continues to knit and hopes that the answer will come to him as he works. 

And it does, but not the in the form that Louis had been hoping for. Instead, he gets both of his sons standing in front of him, looking at each other before they glance down at Louis. 

“We talked about it,” Niall says, glancing up at Harry before he continues. “We can’t tell you what to do but we think you should break up with Liam.”

“Okay,” Louis says, nodding his head slowly. 

“Okay?” Niall asks, looking at Harry for a moment before turning to look at Louis. “What does that mean?”

“It means okay. Okay that I understand what you want, what Harry wants, but I need to think about this. I need to think about what I want and what will make me happy but will also make you both happy, because I’m really happy right now with Liam, but I’m also really happy with the two of you, so I understand what you’re both saying, but. We’ll see what happens, okay? Whatever I do it’s my decision, not yours.”


	24. Chapter 24

Louis hasn’t seen Liam for a week. 

It’s no one’s fault but his own, he needs time to think and to make sure that he’s making the right choices for himself and for his children. He uses the time to think back on all the times that Harry has shown genuine distaste for Liam and for their relationship, and he remembers all the times that he begged Harry to give Liam a chance without fully listening to what his son was saying to him. He always chalked it up to Harry’s normal resistance to a relationship, and while that still seems to be Harry’s problem now, he also understands that he’s done nothing to help show Harry that Liam isn’t like the slew of other guys that walked out of Louis’ life. He’s done nothing Harry’s entire life to let him know that Louis could look after himself. He uses the time to remind himself that Harry is only fifteen years old, still a child who doesn’t understand the walks of life, doesn’t understand the various ways of how relationships work. It’s Louis’ fault for never having shown him what a healthy relationship looks like, if he has one with Liam. He’s not even sure himself when he stops to think about it. 

Louis uses his week to think of Niall, his little baby, and his persistent reminders to Louis of how much he dislikes Zayn, how worried he is about what the little boy’s presence in their lives meant. He told Niall, tried his best to reassure him with words that Niall will always be Harry’s little brother, his only brother, and he will always be Louis’ little boy. He spoke the words but he’s not sure he followed up with the actions; he’s not sure that he showed Niall he had nothing to worry about. He thinks that if he would have handled it sooner then they wouldn’t be in this situation; he thinks that maybe Niall wouldn’t have grown an aversion to Liam as well. 

Mostly, Louis spends the week thinking about how he’s going to fix the problems he’s caused in not only his own life, but also the lives of his children. And despite how hard he thinks and how hard he tries to formulate different plans in his head, nothing comes to him. 

Nothing. 

Not until Saturday evening when Niall and Harry are arriving home for dinner. 

~~~ 

Louis has three plates of spaghetti sat out on the table, another plate of garlic bread in the center while Harry pours everyone a glass of water and Niall grabs the utensils. 

They sit down together, Niall telling Louis about how Jade’s mom let him buy two different kinds of candy at the movie theater, but she only let Sean get one. He listens as Niall tells him about how he thinks it’s because he’s Jade’s boyfriend, and how he’s too young to buy his own stuff, so maybe the second candy was for Jade, but he was hungry so he ate it, and made Jade’s mom buy her daughter her own candy. 

Harry tells him about how he didn’t do anything at Ben’s house, a lie, but Louis isn’t going to push him. 

He’s listening to his kids talk, he really is, but mostly he’s waiting for a pause in the conversation, like the one taking place now, while Niall gets himself more water and Harry checks his phone. He takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the worst when he says, “I’m going to see Liam tonight.”

He glances up in time to see both Niall and Harry exchanging looks before they glance at him.

“Why?” Harry asks, his expression confused as he drops his phone on the table and leans forward in his chair, like he’s trying to get closer to Louis so he won’t miss his answer. 

“There are some things that he and I need to talk about. I’ve already texted him and we’re meeting in about forty-five minutes. I wanted to let you both know where I was going.” 

“What are you going to talk about?” Niall asks, taking his seat at the table again. 

“It doesn’t matter. I just want you both to know that I heard you. I heard what you said last weekend, and I know and understand how both of you were feeling. I should have been more sensitive to that before now, and I’m sorry. I love you both very much and I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you, so I’m sorry.” 

Niall and Harry both nod their heads, accepting his apology and Louis feels a little relieved. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t care about you, I do. I care about you more than I’ll ever care about Liam or any other guy this world has to offer. My life is you two, my love is for you two, but,” Louis pauses, taking a deep breath. “But sometimes I need something else, something you can’t offer me. It’s like, you both go out with your friends, right? You have Nick and Ben and Caroline and whatever other kid whose names you’ll never bother to tell me, and Niall, you have Sean and Jade and Josh. You two both need friends; I can’t be your friend, not your only friend. I wish I could, I’d lock you both in here and never let you leave, but that won’t work anymore because Niall’s not an infant and Harry isn’t five.

“I love both of you, more than words can say, but I need other things in my life. I need friends, like you. I need a boyfriend, like you have Jade and you have Nick. I need someone, but whomever that person ends up being will never, ever, take your places in my life. No one will ever be more important to me. So, I want you both to remember that while I’m gone, okay? I need you both to remember that, because I honestly don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t know if it’s for the best, so I need you both to just remember what I said, all right?” Louis asks, looking at both of his sons for confirmation that they understand what he’s saying to them. They both nod their heads slowly, hesitant looks on their faces, like they’re unsure what’s going to happen while Louis is out. 

Louis doesn’t even know what’s going to happen tonight, but he said what he needed to say to his kids, and now he needs to say what he needs to say to Liam. 

~~~~~ 

Liam hasn’t seen Louis for a week. 

He tried, attempted several times to call him and get the other boy to talk to him. And it worked, always texting and whispering quietly into the phone while their kids were asleep, but Louis never let it go further, said he had to focus on his kids for a little bit, said he’d explain when he saw Liam. And Liam understands, he does. He’d do the same thing to Louis if Zayn seemed like he needed time with just Liam and no one else, but it doesn’t stop the little twist in his gut when he hears Louis over the phone. It doesn’t stop him from wishing that they could be next to each other. 

And that’s how Liam spends the week apart. He thinks about Louis, thinks about their weekend together and the way it felt to have a brief break in their lives to imagine that they were someone else, someone living in another time. It didn’t last long, Liam making phone calls to Zayn three, four times a day, and Louis calling Niall and Harry every night after dinner. He thinks about waking up in the morning, Louis’ face pressed against his chest, elbow digging in his ribs, fingers resting against his heart, and the careful morning light filtering through the cracks in the blinds and enhancing the sharp features of Louis’ face, the quiet stillness of sleeping figure as Liam holds onto him. 

He thinks about Louis, and the way he looked underneath him. How small and soft and open he looked, like his heart was lying on the bed next to them, exposed for Liam to see. He thinks about the careful touches, the soft kisses, and the quiet moans. 

He mostly thinks about the aching pull in his stomach every time Louis says they really, really can’t see each other just yet, but to give him a little bit of time. And of course Liam does, because somewhere between the grocery store stalking, the begging for dates, the stream of unanswered texts and the first dates and first kisses and angry children, Liam fell hard. Harder than he thought possible. So while it hurts, he gives Louis his time and space, waits for him to tell Liam when it’s time. So he waits. 

Waits. 

And then on Saturday morning he gets a phone call and asks Liam if they can meet at eight thirty, a little after Zayn’s fallen asleep, and Liam realizes that tonight’s the night he’ll find out what’s been going on with Louis. 

~~~ 

Liam is sitting on his front porch with his baby monitor, a device he’s slightly embarrassed to admit he’s kept and still uses from time to time. 

He’s not sure what Louis’ wants, knows that it’ll be nice to have a conversation somewhere where they don’t have to talk in hushed voices, hoping to keep Zayn asleep. Not like he’d wake up in the first place, but still. 

Louis is ten minutes late, his car rolling slowly into Liam’s driveway, headlights momentarily blinding Liam as he makes his way towards the car. He pulls the door open for Louis, holding it open until he’s safely out and slams it shut. He looks at Louis’ for a moment, admiring Louis in his simple jeans and black sweatshirt. Louis smiles at him, his expression tired and Liam doesn’t bother asking permission before he cups Louis’ jaw in his hands pulls their lips together for a kiss. He sighs into his, his body relaxing a little when Louis kisses back, soft and sweet and slow. 

Liam pulls away, smiling at Louis’ softly in the darkness of the night, sliding his hand down from Louis’ jaw to his hand, interlocking their fingers and leads him back to the porch. They sit down next to each other and Liam releases a deep breath, resting his head against the back of his chair as he stares out at the stars in the sky. He’s searching for constellations that he doesn’t know the name of, content on just being beside Louis after such a long week. 

It wasn’t just long because of Louis’ absence, it was long in it’s own right because of work, because of children at Zayn’s care center getting sick and him have to beg his mother to take him. It felt like a million little things falling apart, but now it’s the weekend and Liam is able to relax and stare at the night sky without a worry. That is until Louis says, “my sons want me to break up with you.” 

“What?” Liam asks, his tongue feeling a little heavy as he waits for Louis to finish the rest of his statement, because he knows there is more. There has to be more.

“Last weekend, after I left and picked up the kids, Harry was angry, apparently they both were. They spent the entire weekend talking about it, venting their frustrations to each other, and you know Harry, he’s like a volcano, slowing building up and up and up until one day he explodes into a colossal mess.” 

“What happened? What’d they say?”

“Harry said the usual, said he doesn’t like you. He said that he thought you were nice now but that doesn’t mean you’re not going to change down the road. He said other things, most of them hinting at the fact he thinks I’m blind when it comes to stuff like this so he has to protect me. Niall wouldn’t talk, Harry had to do it for him, but it’s mostly insecurities because he feels like you and Zayn are going to take his place in mine and Harry’s lives, which is the furthest thing from the truth, but he’s ten, he’s just a little boy, and how do you tell your son that’s not true when he believes it is? 

“It was long and tiring, I made them take a break, forced everyone into their own space and said we all needed time to cool down a bit, but when they came back in the living room, they said that they wanted me to break up with you,” Louis says, shifting his neck so he can look at Liam. And Liam gets it now, why Louis put off wanting to see him, why he spoke in hushed whispers in the dead of night. 

“That’s why you wouldn’t see me this week, to think about it?” Liam asks, clearing his throat. Louis nods his head and Liam takes a deep breath. “What’d you decide?” 

“I thought about it, thought about our entire relationship and everything my kids have thrown at me through the course of it. I realized that, no matter what happens, no matter how I choose to go about this that no one will be entirely happy. I can stay with you and make my kids miserable, make my relationship with them worse because they’ll think that their feelings and opinions don’t matter to me. 

“Or, I could break up with you and that’d make them happy, but. But it would really hurt me. I’d imagine it’d hurt you as well. So there is no easy decision, no way I could do this and make it easy for everyone.” 

“Louis,” Liam says, his throat tights, palms sweaty as he shifts around in his seat. 

“I think it would be best if we started over.” 

“What do you… what does that mean?” Liam asks in confusion. “Start over?” 

“I think we need to start over. Well, not fully start over, but I think that we’d be better off if we just… I’m probably not making sense but I thought about it. Harry needs to get to know you, Niall needs to get to know Zayn, but that’ll never happen while we’re out on dates by ourselves. We forgot about our children in all of this. Sure one date alone every once in a while would be fine, but we need to focus on our children, right?” Louis says and Liam nods his head slowly. “The only way to really go about this is to do this slow, do this at their pace and not ours. We start over by doing this properly, because before… Before we were two parents living in a fantasy world where we thought that we could throw three kids together and each other and expect everything to turn out okay. 

“I don’t know what else to do. I don’t want to give you up and I don’t want to break their trust, and I’ve thought about this. I’ve thought about this so fucking much. It’s a stretch, but in time we can see each other more, we can go out more. We can be together properly. It’ll take a while, but I think it’s a good idea, right?” Louis asks, hopeful and scared and needing Liam’s reassurance. 

Liam looks at Louis carefully, nodding his head slowly. “I think we should break up,” Liam says and Louis’ face falls, his hopeful expression gone and replaced with one of pure uncertainty. 

“What? Why?”

“Louis,” Liam says, shaking his head. “It’s just… It’s obvious, right? It’s obvious that’s what we need to do. Harry will never like me, it doesn’t matter what pace we go at. It doesn’t matter if I come over once every two weeks and turn it into once a week and then twice and then thrice or whatever. Harry will never like me, he’s already decided. Just like Niall has already decided that he doesn’t like Zayn and soon that will turn into resentment towards me because I continue to bring Zayn over towards his house. 

“Breaking up is the only way to make your kids happy. It’s the only thing you can do for them that’s right. And I’m not. I’m not angry about it,” Liam says, taking a shaky breath. “Your kids come first for you, just like Zayn comes first for me. I get it and I’d never make you change that, but if I agree to your plan, then your kids will hold me responsible for it and I don’t want to cause anymore problems than I already have for you.”

“Liam,” Louis says, his eyes casted down and his voice quiet. 

“It’s for the best, and I know you agree with me, and I shouldn’t be saying this, but I like you, Louis. I really, really like you, and I think if even the chance I could have loved you.” 

“You can’t say that after you just broke up with me,” Louis says, glancing up at Liam. “You can’t.” 

Liam shrugs his shoulders because Louis is probably right. He shouldn’t make things harder than they have to be, but he wants Louis to know how he feels about him, because he doesn’t want Louis to think this is a bullshit excuse made up by Liam so he can escape just like Louis’ other boyfriends have done before. Because the truth is Liam doesn’t want to end things with Louis, he doesn’t want this to be the last night they’ll see each other, but someone has to do the right thing, no matter how hard it is. 

“I care about you too much to lie to you, especially at a time like this,” Liam admits, shrugging his shoulders when Louis looks at him. “Going our separate ways is for the best, you know it is.” 

Louis smiles at him, nods once and rubs his eyes with his sleeves. He releases a shaky breath and says, “I think I should go home.” 

Liam nods his head and stands up slowly, watching as Louis’ fumbles around with his keys, his body shaking slightly, and breathing labored. “Louis, I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” Louis replies, smiling sadly. “I’ll see you, Liam.” With that he turns and leaves. Liam watches him go, rooted to his spot on the wooden surface of his porch. He stands there, staring at the place Louis just was until he hears a tiny whine come from the baby monitor, the noise tearing him back to the present.


	25. Chapter 25

Liam wakes up earlier than he normally does, feeling an ache deep inside of his body, an itch he can’t quite scratch, and it settles an uneasy feeling inside of him. His nerves feel rattled, his muscles wound tight, everything feels wrong and out of place. And he knows what it’s from, the untimely break up with Louis that neither of them wanted but had to do. It’s been three days and the weight of it all is finally settling and he’s finally feeling it, what he did. He’s restless and wound up, a combination that has him changing into a pair of jogging bottoms, a loose, old shirt, one with the sleeves cut off, and running shoes. He needs to do something, needs to try and clear his head and to release some of the energy, some of the emotions that are building up inside of him and threatening to take over. 

He puts himself together, grabbing his head phones and shoving them into his ears, turning the device on shuffle and dropping it in his pocket right before he grabs Zayn, clutching the sleeping boy close, throwing one of his small blankets over him. 

Once Zayn’s strapped into his stroller, the one Liam uses when he goes for a run, his blanket thrown over him, Liam pushes off, feet slapping against the pavement as he goes, his neighborhood drifting by as he concentrates on the run, focusing all of his attention and energy into the physical action. 

And it works, until Liam turns the corner and his mind starts to wonder off into a realm revolving around Louis. And it’s stupid to think a run could take him away from it, but he had hoped. It’s been three days and while the weight of what he did has finally settled into a constant ache and twisting pull of his gut, it doesn’t mean that he hasn’t spent three days wondering if what he did was right. Three days of writing messages and deleting them, of staring at Louis’ contact in his phone and thinking about pressing the talk button. Three days of forcing himself to act like everything is okay and that he feels nothing about the break up. 

And it’s just... He still doesn’t know if he did the right thing, not sure if he should have said fuck it to what Harry and Niall wanted and stayed with Louis and never changed a thing about their relationship or if he should have stuck with Louis’ idea about starting over, attempting to do things the right way, the way that included their children more than alone time. And all of it could have worked, should have worked, but in a perfect world, not this one. 

Liam cares about Louis, likes him far more than he ever thought he would, and he cares about him enough to not want to be the person that comes in between him and his children. Because he thought about, considered what it would be like if Zayn hated Louis and his kids, if Zayn begged him to end things and he listened, the rift it would cause between them, the thought causing an even worse pain in his chest to flare up, worse than the feelings of a break up, and that’s how he knew that he had to end things. He cares about Louis far too much to allow him to ruin his relationship with his children, even if that’s a decision he doesn’t have the right to make. 

So he swallows it all down, reminds himself that he did it for all the right reasons and that, while it hurts now, it’s not forever, and he can get past this, they both can. It’s not easy, not with the way his chest is aching, his stomach twisting, and his heart racing, but he pushes on, tells himself that he had to do what he did, and wills himself to stop thinking about his feet continue to pound against the pavement, taking him and his son further and further from their house.

~~~ 

Liam manages to get showered and dressed for the day before Zayn wakes up, big hazel eyes blinking open and glancing around the room, looking for Liam while he finishes up styling his hair. He can see in the mirror that Zayn sees him, their eyes meeting for a second, Zayn staring back in a sleepy haze, before he lets out a tired yawn and drops back down onto the bed, stretching out his body, releasing quiet little whines. 

“Dada,” he hears and Liam brushes his fingers through his hair once more before he turns around, exiting the bathroom and grabbing his son off his bed. 

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Liam says, kissing the top of Zayn’s head as he holds him close, rocking him back and forth a bit, breathing in his scent. “Did you sleep okay?” 

“Sleep more,” Zayn says, nuzzling his face into Liam’s shoulder. 

“Oh, baby, I wish we could. Dada would love to just lie in bed all day but he has to go to work, and you’re going to see Nana today.”

Zayn sighs, huffing out a breath onto Liam’s neck. “Okay.”

“Okay, you go potty and Dada will go make breakfast, okay? I’ll get some oatmeal for you.” Liam sets Zayn down on the ground, watching as he stumbled towards the bathroom, his body swaying from being tired and once his son is out of sight, he heads towards the kitchen, working quickly to get breakfast ready for the day. 

It doesn’t take him long, two bowls filled with oatmeal and topped with brown sugar and bananas ready by the time Zayn comes staggering into the kitchen, pulling himself into an empty chair and waiting. Liam sets their bowls down at the table, grabbing a glass of milk and a cup of coffee before he joins Zayn. 

“Eat up, you’re to want to be nice and strong to see Nana today, right? She said she had some fun stuff planned for you, bought you a little pool with boats and pirates and lots of fun stuff. And she said she wants your help in the garden, you can help plant flowers. Doesn’t that sound fun?” 

“I don’t like pool,” Zayn says, shaking his head as he puts a spoonful of food in his mouth. 

“This one is really little, like the bathtub. You love taking baths, right?” Liam asks, watching as Zayn nods his head. “Well, this is like a plastic bath but it goes outside you can run around the yard and help Nana in the garden and then go play with your boat and other toys, it’s just like the bath.”

Zayn looks at him for a moment, like he’s trying to figure out if Liam is telling him the truth or not, like he can’t understand the idea of a bath taking place outside. But he seems to accept it, nodding his head and saying, “Okay.”

“Good, I know you’ll love it. You’ll have fun at Nana’s, but what do you want to do later tonight?” Liam asks, eating a spoonful of oatmeal. 

“I don’t know,” Zayn says, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Well, you have to think of something. Dada wants to do something fun after work, don’t you want to do something fun with Dada?” 

“Yeah,” Zayn says, looking at Liam with wide, hazel eyes, nodding his head seriously. “But I don’t know.” 

“Hmm, well, we could make cookies again? Or we could rent a movie and make special macaroni? Or play outside for a little while; you haven’t played outside in a couple of days. Do you want to do that? We could kick the ball around, if you want to.”

Zayn looks at him, chewing the bite of oatmeal in his mouth, swallowing and then saying, “Want to see Harry.” 

Liam stills, dropping his spoon into his bowl and stares at Zayn, trying to figure out what to tell the little boy staring back at him, the innocent and earnest expression on his face breaking Liam’s heart a little bit more that it was this morning. “Babe, I don’t think we can see Harry today.” 

“See Niall?” 

“Oh no, sweetheart, we can’t see them today. I’m sorry. We can have fun, right? Dada and Zaynie can have fun,” Liam says, doing his best to smile happily at his son, trying not to show that his words don’t cut right through him. 

“With Louis?” 

Liam’s smile drops, replaced by a frown as he shakes his head, pushing away his breakfast, no longer feeling hungry. He doesn’t know what to tell Zayn, doesn’t know how to explain what a break up is and how it works because he’s too young to understand, to young to even understand that Louis was his boyfriend and Niall and Harry were just Louis’ kids and not his friends, no matter how much he might have liked them. And it breaks his heart to know that Zayn has to lose people because of his decision to end things with Louis. 

“Sweetheart, I wish we could but we just can’t, okay?”

“Dada, why?” Zayn asks, bottom lip sticking out slightly. 

“I don’t…” Liam pauses, taking a deep breath as he tries to clear his head, rubbing his hand across his mouth for a second. “I don’t know, but we can’t.” It’s not the best answer but it’s all he can come up with, the only thing that doesn’t involve saying that they’ll probably never see them again and that he wishes Zayn would stop asking because it makes his heart pound and twist and ache and he doesn’t know if he can deal with anymore. 

“Dada, I’m sad,” Zayn says, frowning for a second before he takes another bite of food. 

“I know, baby, it makes me sad, too. I wish we could see them, but we can’t, so we’re going to do some Dada and Zayn stuff for now, just like before, okay?” 

“Okay,” Zayn says, eating the last of his oatmeal. 

Liam watches him for a moment, trying to ease the clenching in his gut from Zayn’s admission of being sad. 

~~~ 

“Here he is,” Liam’s mom says when she yanks the door open, smiling widely and holding her arms out for Zayn. “Wow, you’ve gotten bigger. Have you been eating a lot?” 

“No,” Zayn says, shaking his head as he kicks his legs to be put down. 

“Well, I’ll just have to fatten you up a bit, won’t I? That’s what grandma’s are for, aren’t we?” She says, smiling at him and winking, Zayn just staring back blankly, not understanding what she’s talking about. “Well, someone’s tired.” 

“Yeah, he wanted to go back to sleep this morning but it’s not really anything new, is it?” Liam adds. 

“No, I’d say it’s not. Zayn, are you ready to have fun? I want to go work in the back garden, do you want to help Nana?” 

Zayn shakes his head, looking at the floor. “I’m sad.” 

“What? Why?” She says, kneeling down in front of him, tilting his face up towards hers. “Why are you sad?” 

“Dada’s sad,” Zayn says and Liam groans, tilting his head back and staring at the ceiling of the overhang covering her roof, hoping that he thinks hard enough it’ll take back what Zayn just said and stop him from continuing on. When he looks back down, the two of them are staring at him, his mother having stood up, a hand on her hip as she watches him. 

“I’m not sad, I’m fine,” Liam says. 

“No, he’s sad,” Zayn says, nodding his head. 

“Why does your son think you’re upset?” 

Liam sighs, shaking his head. “I broke up with Louis.” 

“What? Why? What happened?” 

“Nothing happened, his kids aren’t really that fond of me or Zayn and we tried to make it work but it just wasn’t. His kids were always upset and I don’t want to be the guy that their dad chooses over them, or that guy that they hate that their dad is dating, or whatever else, so I ended things.” 

“Oh my baby,” she says, stepping forward and pulling Liam into a hug, tugging him by the neck down until his head is resting on her shoulder. She brushes her fingers through his hair, rocking him back and forth. “You know, those boys of his are just children. They don’t understand and they can’t see anything other than what they want to see, but that’s how children are. It’s not their fault and sometimes these things happen when a parent dates, sometimes kids aren’t happy about it, but you can’t control them. Trying to control the kids and the situation will have only made things worse; you don’t want them to resent you. These things should come naturally and it doesn’t sound like this one did.” 

“I’m not mad at his kids, mom, just a little mad at myself for getting attached.” 

“You’ll be okay, sweetheart.” She hugs him tighter, gripping onto him and patting him on the back. Liam glances over her shoulder, sees Zayn smiling at him with his eyes crinkled shut, little tongue poking at his teeth. “Everything happens for a reason, and everything ends up how it’s supposed to end up.” 

“Yeah, maybe,” Liam says, hugging her back for a brief second before he’s pulling away. “I really appreciate this, but I really to get to work, I’m running late.” He smiles at her, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead before he bends over to get Zayn a kiss. “I love you both and I’ll see you later, okay?” 

“Love you, Dada,” Zayn calls, waving from the porch as Liam rushes towards his car, hopping inside and driving off, watching the image of his son disappear as he goes. 

~~~ 

Liam’s a little late to work, his conversation with his mother running longer than he wanted, but being late is something that he can do, or so he feels since he owns the grocery store, but working for the grocery store means you have to be on time, something that apparently is difficult for Harry today. 

“Where’s Harry?” Liam asks, tapping against the belt at a register, waiting for his employee’s response. 

“Not sure, he didn’t call in or call at all,” she replies, smacking her gum in between it. 

Liam sighs, rubbing his hand across his face, pressing in and trying not to feel anything about the news. “Send him straight into the security office when he gets here, I’ve got a couple things to do in there and I’ll gladly wait for him to get here before I head back to my office.”

“Got it,” he hears Claire fire back as he makes his way towards the security room, he unlocks the doors, leaving it propped open a pinch before he drops down onto his chair. 

“God,” Liam groans, rubbing his face against his hands, elbows perched on top of the desk. Pulling his hands away, he shakes his head, willing himself to snap out of it as he grabs a pen to go over the stack of paper work he left in from a few days earlier.

He’s ten minutes into it when he hears the door creak open, a familiar head of curls peeking inside. 

“You’re late,” Liam says, pointing towards the chair across from him, motioning for Harry to take a seat. “Why are you late?” 

“I didn’t realize I was,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders as he takes the seat across from Liam. “I didn’t think you’d really care.” 

Liam folds his arms over his chest and resists rolling his eyes, that’s a Tomlinson man move and he’s not one of them, but he does shake his head, releasing a deep breath that earns an eye roll from Harry. “When one of my employees is late, I care and I like to know why. So, let’s talk about why you’re late for work.” 

“I just didn’t think I should come in today,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Why?” 

Harry sighs, running a hand through his curls. “I thought maybe you’d want to fire me. I figured, don’t show up and I can’t get fired, but I sort of realized that was stupid, so I came to work.” 

“Why would I fire you?” Liam asks, genuine confusion written across his face. 

“Because my dad broke up with you,” Harry says, like the answer should have been obvious to Liam. 

“Your dad, what?” Liam asks, unable to hide his confusion. He looks at Harry, his eyebrows knitted together and sees the way Harry is looking at him, a little bit of pity in his eyes, not because he feels sorry for Liam but because he feels bad, like Liam is too stupid to understand what he just said. 

“My dad broke up with you, or at least that’s what he said when he came home from your house the other night,” Harry says, slowly and deliberately, like he’s trying to spark some kind of memory inside of Liam. “Unless you two are lying about it, trying to make Niall and I feel bad while you sneak around behind our backs.”

Liam stares at him for a moment before he shakes his head, releasing a deep breath. “No, we’re not hiding anything. I just, um, he said that he broke up with me?”

“Yeah, he said that he went over to your house, you both talked a bit and he said he thought it would be best if you stopped seeing each other. He didn’t say anything else, not like I really asked,” Harry offers, flicking a fleck of lint on his pants. “Why?”

“No reason,” Liam says slowly. “I just. Well, to be honest, I didn’t think he’d say, uh, that to you. I’m just surprised is all, although I probably shouldn’t be, all things considered.” 

“I guess. Listen, can I go to work now or do we need to talk more? I don’t want another lecture from you about poor job performance because you’re holding me hostage in the security room.” 

“Yeah, of course. And Harry?”

“Yeah?” Harry asks, pulling himself out of the chair. 

“You’re fine this time, but next time, I’m going to have to issue a punishment and whether that’s docked hours from the next schedule so you don’t work as much, or making you scrub the toilets of the restroom, I don’t know, but I can’t let you be late another time. Got it?” 

“Yeah, whatever,” Harry says, waving him off and leaving the office. The door slams closed behind him, the sound reverberating off the walls and causing in ache in Liam’s head. He reaches up, massages his fingers against his temples and reminds himself that everything is okay and everything will be okay. Taking a deep breath and squeezing his eyes shut for a second, Liam tries to calm down, willing himself to get a grip before he goes back to work, staring at the black and white images of the store, watching for… something. 

~~~ 

Later that night Liam goes to sleep cuddled up against Zayn, letting his son sleep in his bed for once, saying that he thought it would be nice for a cuddle, not wanting to say that he really needs someone with him right now. He goes to sleep brushing his fingers through Zayn’s hair and thinking about Louis, hoping that he’s okay, and willing himself not to miss the other boy too much.


	26. Chapter 26

Going back to life without Liam isn’t as hard as Louis thought it would be. He expected more tears and more pain. With his other break ups, all of which ended in Louis’ being the one blind sided by the end of things, and not always blind sided, because even the boyfriends that were complete and utter assholes, like the one that yelled at Harry were the ones breaking up with him. He’s never had the chance to be the person to decide that a relationship is over, or to at least be the one to finalize the break up after the thought has entered his brain. It’s almost like everyone he’s ever dated has had an exclusive look into his mind every time he’s thinking about breaking up with them, and maybe Liam is the same, because for a minute, Louis thought about breaking up with Liam. 

Louis considered all angles of the situation and he thought about how the only way to keep his children happy and to make sure he was doing what he should for them as their parent was to break up with Liam, and he was going to do it, but the thought of hurting Liam and possibly breaking his heart and ending the best relationship he’s ever been in made Louis change his mind. 

But Louis was blindsided by Liam’s ending of the relationship and Liam’s ability to make it sound so easy, when for Louis it made his tongue heavy and his stomach clench and swirl and his palms sweat and heart race. He couldn’t do it, but Liam could, and it made Louis feel every ounce of pathetic that a human can feel. So, he lied. 

He told Harry and Niall when he got home that it was his idea to end things because he understood where they were coming from and he needed to make more time for them while they’re young instead of focusing his attention on a boyfriend. He also made sure they understood that nothing about what happened was their fault, because while it might seem like two angst ridden children fighting to keep their dad to themselves, he can’t find it in it to blame them, especially when the root of their problems come from insecurity in their own family, which is something Louis needs to work on and address. 

So Louis comes up with a plan, a plan that can show the kids that they’re most important to him, and to make sure they understand it through his actions and not just his words. And the plan is a way to help their own relationship, because nothing would make Louis’ life easier than by having two sons that get along. He starts by forcing Harry to Niall’s soccer games, giving him a free pass on the practices. He’s also made Sunday’s a night dedicated to the family, a night where Niall or Harry could pick a movie, each week alternating between the two of them and the other being able to pick dinner. The plan is about spending more time together as a family, something they weren’t doing before. 

And it worked, the first two weeks of the break up, but now, three weeks later, it seems that Louis is having trouble keeping his family to stick to the plan. He finds himself spending more and more time alone, enough time alone that he’s beginning to feel the ache in his chest and the twist in his gut because he has time to think about the break up. 

Now, three weeks later, Louis is doing everything in his power to keep himself preoccupied so his mind doesn’t wander off to Liam and what he might be doing with Zayn, or dragging himself to the grocery store so he can make a complete and utter fool out of himself like he did before. But he reins it in, keeping himself busy with work and researching new lesson plans for his class while Harry and Niall are still at school. He throws himself into Niall’s soccer games and practice, doing everything that he can to help Niall out at home, like dragging him to the back yard for a night of kicking the ball around. And of course, he knits, because three weeks later, and Niall and Harry have started spending more and more time with their friends instead of their father, family time having gone boring, or so Louis thinks. 

It’s three weeks later, or, in the case of his knitting, three sweaters, seven beanies, and nine pairs of socks since the break up and Louis is feeling more alone than ever. 

~~~ 

Louis is currently sat on his couch, skein of yarn in his lap and knitting needles in hand as he works through his memorized pattern to make Harry another beanie for the winter. Harry and Niall are getting ready to go out, Friday night and all that, the two of them having disappeared into their bedroom after they both asked Louis if they go out. 

He can hear his sons talking to each other, the words jumbled together due to the distance away, but Louis does register when Niall’s voice goes up a few octaves and begins frantically yelling at Harry. 

Louis tosses his knitting needles aside, pulling himself off the couch and going to see what’s going on between the two of them. He stops at the end of hall, listening in on the conversation when he hears them mentioning Liam, wanting to know what they’re talking about that would cause Niall to yell. 

“I thought you said that Dad would be okay,” Niall says and Louis can’t see them because he’s hiding behind the wall, but he imagines that Niall is looking up at Harry, blue eyes wide as he waits for an answer and Harry peeking around his shoulder to make sure Louis isn’t listening, which he is. 

“He will be, but you can’t expect anyone to be perfectly happy after a break up, it takes time,” Harry replies. 

“I don’t like seeing him sad, though,” Niall says. 

“I don’t like seeing him sad either, but would you rather have Zayn and Liam here taking over and Dad completely forgetting about us?” Harry asks. 

“No,” Niall says, probably with a shake of his head, if Louis had to guess. “I didn’t really like Zayn, but Dad liked Liam and maybe he could talk to him again.” 

“Niall,” Harry says with a sigh. “We’ve talked about this, he’ll be fine. I promise. He’s not even that sad, he’s just…he’s knitting, he loves to knit, and didn't you like the sweater he made you?”

“Yeah that was pretty cool, but I can’t wear it for months and by then I’ll have 500 sweaters from him, because look at him, he’s in there making you another stupid hat.” 

“Shh,” Harry hisses. “If Dad hears you saying that then you can guarantee that he’ll be sad, so shut up.”

“Don’t tell me to shut up,” Niall replies, his voiced raised. 

“Niall, seriously, shut up. You’re worried about Dad being sad but yet you want to insult something he likes to do? How would you feel if he insulted your pathetic soccer?” 

“You’re a jerk,” Niall shouts and Louis chooses that moment to make his appearance known, turning into the hallway to see Niall swinging his arms and Harry holding him back, Niall’s arms just barely missing Harry’s torso. 

“Hey,” Louis shouts, watching as both of sons jump apart. “Enough of that, you don't need to hit each other.” 

“Niall’s being an idiot,” Harry says, turning around to look at Louis. 

“Harry’s being a jerk,” Niall replies, glaring at Harry instead of looking at Louis and Louis sighs, shaking his head. 

“Well, I was listening to your conversation and I think-“ 

“You were listening?” Harry shouts at the same time Niall says, “You can’t spy on us.” 

“The answer is yes, I was and yes, I can, it’s my house, and you’re having a conversation in the hallway, it’s a common area. If you want to have a private conversation then do so in your bedrooms, anywhere but where I’m allowed go at free will,” Louis says, and both Niall and Harry look at each other. “With that being said, it should be known that I’m all right. You don’t have to be mad about anything or worry about me, because I’m fine, okay?”

“You’re not fine,” Niall says. “You’re sad.” 

“I’m not sad,” Louis says, because he’s not entirely sad, he’s several other things in addition to sad, but he’s not going to tell his children that. 

“Dad, you won’t stop making stuff. I have six pairs of socks and you’ve made three sweaters. You’re sad,” Niall says. “It’s our fault, isn’t it?” 

“No,” Louis says, firmly. “You will never be at fault for this, never. It wasn’t fair of me to continue seeing Liam when you’re both so against it, and it took me a while to realize it but I did and that’s why I broke up with him, so you have nothing to be guilty about it.”

“Then why do you keep knitting?” asks Harry, his eyes narrowed as he looks at Louis swallows because he doesn’t like lying to his kids but he doesn’t want them to think that this is their fault, because he doesn’t blame them. 

“I’m bored. You’re both always gone and I’m just trying to keep myself entertained. I’m not like the both of you, I haven’t got any friends and I’m single, so I’ve got to find ways to keep myself from going crazy, so I knit and that means your wardrobe is going to expand. And well, you’ll have to get over it,” Louis says, folding his arms over his chest. 

“You’re bored?” Niall asks, looking at Harry and then Louis.

“Well, yes. You’re both either at school, or at work or at soccer and I’m here, by myself, trying to think of things to do for myself, and sometimes, most of the time, actually, knitting is all I can think to do.” 

“All right, so we’ll do something,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders. “What do you want to do?” 

“You want to do something with me?” Louis asks in disbelief. “I thought you had plans with Nick?”

“You’re bored and Nick won’t care if I bail on him,” Harry says and it sounds like it’s no big deal to him but to Louis it’s everything, because he can’t seem to get his brain to think back far enough to remember a time when Harry wanted to do something with him. 

“If you’re both doing something then I’m not going to Sean’s house. I don’t want to go,” Niall says, folding his arms over his chest. 

“Neither of you have to stay with me if you don’t want to,” Louis says. “I’ll be okay. I don’t want you to do something you don’t want to do, or to give up actually having fun to spend time with me. We could do something tomorrow or wait until Sunday, it’s okay.” 

“Dad, shut up,” Harry says, laughing under his breath. “I’m going to text him now, Niall is going to call Sean, and you’re going to pack up your knitting, okay?” 

“Yeah, that’s, um, that’s great. Okay,” Louis says, smiling, feeling his body beginning to get overwhelmed with excitement that he’s able to do something with his kids. 

~~~ 

They can’t think of anything special to do, so Louis takes them out to eat at a place with loud music and greasy burgers, something he heard one of the parents talking about at work one day. It’s not his ideal eating location, but Harry and Niall seem to like it, and it’s better than staying inside alone, so Louis swallows his displeasure to enjoy the night. 

“This is great,” Niall says as he takes a long drink from his milkshake. “Sean’s mom would have never let us eaten ice cream with dinner.” 

“Technically you’re drinking ice cream, not eating it,” Louis says, winking with Niall as he takes another bite of his fries. "What did you have planned with Sean tonight?"

“Sean’s mom is kind of crazy,” Harry says and Niall’s smile drops and turns into a frown. “I’m just saying, his older sister is in our grade and his mom is always showing up at the school randomly and calling teachers in the middle of class. It’s weird, right?” 

“Well, she’s failing,” Niall says, like it’s a reasonable action of the mother, which Louis thinks it is, if the child is failing, but he does think that phone calls and surprise visits to schools are a little over the top. “Sean’s mom let’s us use her pool. I wish we had a pool.” 

“Nick has a pool,” Harry says casually. 

“Do you and your boyfriend have romantic swims?” Niall asks. 

“Shut up,” Harry says, rolling his eyes. “He’s not my boyfriend.” 

“Good,” Louis says, nodding his head firmly. “I’d like to meet him properly before he becomes your boyfriend.” 

“You have met him.” 

“No, I don’t think rushing out of your bedroom after you snuck him into the house really counts as my having met him.” 

“Do you kiss him?” Niall asks, breaking up Harry and Louis’ exchange and Louis takes a bite of his burger and tries his hardest to not act like the question leaves him intrigued, because the thought of Harry going out every other night to see Nick just to kiss him makes Louis want to ground and him and forbid him from leaving the house, because he’s too young to be out kissing boys three years older than him.” 

“Do you kiss Jade?” Harry says in response. 

“That’s disgusting,” Niall replies, sticking his tongue out. “She won’t be my girlfriend anymore if she tries to kiss me.” 

“Kissing is not necessary and should not be done until you’re thirty-five and no longer living in my house,” Louis says, interrupting them. “I don’t think there should be any kissing going on in relationships, not with boyfriend and girlfriend or boyfriend and boyfriend.”

“You kissed Liam, Niall says, but as soon as he words are out of his mouth, his smile drops and he frowns, looking frantically between Harry and Louis. 

“Nice going,” Harry mutters. 

And Louis feels the air sucked out of the room at that, his mind going blank as he smiles at Niall, nodding his head and taking a sip of his water. He was doing a good job of forgetting about Liam, a good job of forgetting that he felt alone, but the mention of his ex boyfriend is a harsh reminder that after the dinner, he’ll still feel alone, and he’ll still the newly-single single father with an abundance of knitted clothing. 

“I’m sorry,” Niall says. “It just slipped out of my mouth. I didn’t mean to say it.” 

“It’s okay,” Louis says, waving him off. 

“Dad, can we see a movie after this?” Harry asks, turning to look at Louis expectantly and Louis beams, because he’ll do anything to keep himself busy and anything that means spending time with his kids. 

“Oh yeah, Jade’s brother, he said there a new movie out and, um, I don’t know the name, but someone gets their head sliced off. We should see that,” Niall says. 

“Yes to the movie and no to the head slicing, sorry, Niall,” Louis says, taking another of his food, the mention of kissing Liam still running through his mind, but he smiles at his kids, trying his hardest to let them know that he’s okay, especially now when they’re trying so hard. 

~~~ 

Louis is in bed for the night when he hears his door opening, and looking up from his knitting he sees Niall standing there, a worried look on his face.

“Niall, what’s wrong?” Louis asks, setting the yarn and needles onto his lap. 

“Nothing, just wanted to check on you,” Niall says, shrugging his shoulders, and Louis laughs, shaking his head. 

“Niall, you don’t need to check on me,” he says, setting the knitting on his bedside table. “I promise that I’m okay and you’re free to sleep without worry. I was actually just getting ready to call it a night myself and you,” he pauses to glance at the clock, shaking his head when it sees it’s almost one, “should already be in bed and sleeping.” 

“I know, but I didn’t want you to be lonely so I came in here to ask if I could sleep in your bed tonight, you know, with you?” Niall asks. 

Louis nods his head, pulling the blankets back and patting the space next to him. Niall smiles at him and shuts the door before he jumps into bed, crawling across Louis’ legs to lie down on the empty side of the bed. 

“Harry’s going to think I’m a baby,” Niall says, settling into bed next to Louis. 

“Don’t worry about Harry,” Louis says, flicking off the lamp on the bedside table. He lies down on the bed, rolling onto his side so he’s facing Niall. “Harry slept in here until he was nine, and most nights he would crawl in and try to wait for me to fall asleep, so he could get into bed, only he’d end up falling asleep. I’d wake up in the mornings and he’d be curled up on the floor next to the end of the bed. I think I’ve got some pictures we can show him if he wants to say anything to you.” 

Niall laughs, pulling the blankets up to cover his mouth. “He’s so weird.” 

“But we love him anyway, right?” Louis says. 

“Right, but only sometimes,” Niall corrects. 

“It’s all the time for me,” Louis says, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He can feel sleep weighing down on him, exhaustion seeping into his bones, and he feels like he’s going to get a decent night of sleep with Niall next to him. 

“I’m sorry for mentioning Liam at dinner,” Niall whispers. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.” 

“You don’t have to apologize, bug. I’m not sad; you just caught me off guard. You shouldn’t be worrying about it, you should be, however, worrying about sleep,” Louis says, cracking an eye open to look at Niall. Niall smiles at him and nods his head before he closes his eyes. Louis follows suit and waits, hoping sleep will overtake him soon.


	27. Chapter 27

A month since the break up and Liam is still feeling oddly alone. He misses Louis’ quirky nature and his ability to brighten Liam’s day. Liam misses a lot of things, but he’s managing. Zayn has stop accusing him of being sad, he’s stopped telling everyone they see that Liam is sad. After a particularly bad run in at the toy store where Zayn told their cashier that his dad was sad was enough to make Liam get his shit together.

He’s seen Louis a few times, through the front of the grocery store as he’s picking Harry up from work. He no longer comes into the store, Liam often sees Harry grumbling as he walks through the store with a full grocery cart and his father’s credit card, but he’s never seen him up close, which… It’s fine, honestly. Liam’s not sure he really wants to see Louis, especially when he’s trying to convince himself that he’s perfectly okay.

Liam’s currently at work, stuffed inside of the security office. He doesn't have much to do, his shift almost ending, so he’s watching the security tapes, checking to make sure everyone is doing their jobs while he texts his mother to find out how Zayn is doing.

The office door swings open, and Liam instantly knows that it’s Harry, because none of his other employees would barge in without at least a courtesy knock.

“Mr. Payne, some kid knocked over the canned goods display Ashton set up yesterday. Melissa is cleaning it up, but do you want her to set it back up or just put them on the shelf? It’s the third time this week someone has knocked it over,” Harry says.

Liam sets his phone down on the table, face down, and glances up at Harry. “Just tell her to put them back on the shelf. It was Claire’s idea to even set up a display, but it’s obviously not worth it. I don’t know why people avoid all of our other displays, but try and do something with a can and suddenly it’s a problem,” Liam says, shaking his head.

“Yeah all right, I’ll let her know,” Harry says, nodding his head. He’s giving Liam a look, one that says he’s trying to figure something out.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Harry says, shaking his head. “Just wondering who you’re texting.”

“I’m not texting anyone,” Liam says, frowning. “Well, I was, but just waiting on a response.”

“I see,” Harry says, looking at Liam skeptically. “Is it my dad?”

“What? No,” Liam answers, shaking his head. “Why would I be texting your father?”

“I don’t know you tell me,” Harry says. “You just hid your screen, like you didn’t want to me to accidentally see something, so I just thought, maybe he’s texting my dad and he doesn’t want me to find out, because it would make sense why my father is much happier.”

“Harry, your father hasn’t spoken to me since I broke up with on my front porch a month ago. I’m texting my mother and finding out how my son is doing, if you absolutely must know,” Liam says, huffing out a breath of annoyance. It’s really none of Harry’s business what he’s doing, but he doesn’t want him going home and saying anything to Louis, which is the only reason why he bothers telling him.

“What?” Harry asks in confusion, tilting his head to look at Liam. “I thought my dad broke up with you.”

“What are you talking about?” Liam asks, looking at Harry curiously.

“You just said that you broke up with my dad, but I thought he broke up with you.”

“I don’t think I said that.”

“No, you did,” Harry says, looking at Liam closely. “You said that my dad hasn’t spoken to you since you broke up with him on your front porch. There is a difference between him breaking up with you and you breaking up with him.”

“Is there really?” Liam asks, rubbing his thumb against the tabletop. “I don’t know, I mean, you could use the two interchangeably, if you wanted.”

“You’re lying,” Harry says, his eyes narrowing. “You and my father are both lying. You dumped him, didn’t you? What the actual fuck. Why are you lying?”

“Harry, it’s not like that. We both came to the decision together, we both realized it’s for the best, and that is why you can say I broke up with him or he broke up with me. It’s not lying, it’s really not lying,” Liam says, trying his best to get Harry to believe him.

“You’re a fucking shit,” Harry curses. “You broke up with my dad and he’s lying to cover for you. Oh my god, I have to go home.”

“Harry, wait,” Liam calls, scrambling to get out of his seat. Harry slams the door to the security room shut behind him, and Liam misses his chance to explain what he meant.

~~~

It’s a few hours later when Liam receives a text from Louis that reads, _thanks for that, by the way. I’m not sure my son thanked you properly for pointing out I’m a liar._

The text leaves a heavy weight in his stomach and he groans, because that’s not at all what happened.

 **Louis, it’s not like that.** He texts back quickly. **We were in my office, and he mentioned something about the break up, and so I said an offhand comment along the lines of breaking up with you, and he exploded.**

He waits for Louis’ response, chewing on his bottom lip as he stares at his phone. He nearly jumps out of his skin when it comes, five minutes after his first response.

_I’ve been getting screamed at for an hour, he’s absolutely furious at you for ending things, and absolutely furious at me for lying about it. He’s hurt, he feels betrayed, like I lied to him on purpose to keep him from lashing out on you. Well, that’s not why I did it, and I don’t appreciate you telling my son that I lied just so I can receive a verbal beating that he wants to give you._

**Louis, that’s not what happened. I didn’t think what I said would matter, but your son has some sort of sixth sense about this kind of stuff. I tried to explain but he rushed out of work. He didn’t even finish his shift. I didn’t mean to make things difficult for you, honestly, Louis.** Liam texts, short of just begging Louis to not be cross with him. He hasn’t actually done anything wrong. He writes another message, one that reads, **If he’s giving you shit then you have to do something, don’t just take it, Louis.**

_I think I know how to raise my own child, Liam. I’d obviously not be texting you if he was still going. But thanks for the tip!_

**Louis, don’t be angry with me, please.**

_What does it matter anyway? Not like you’re going to have to deal with me._

**That’s not fair. I think you know why I don’t want you upset with me.**

_Not really sure I do, but I have to go now. The child you made angry with me has just come out of his bedroom._

Liam stares at his phone, groaning, absolutely hating that none of this is coming out right, because he wasn’t intending for Harry to get angry with Louis, and he didn’t think that Louis would get angry with him, but being backed into a corner makes people do crazy things. Liam can only hope that he gets the chance to set things straight with Louis soon.

~~~

Liam’s getting ready for bed, it’s a little after one in the morning and he’s just reached a place in his book where he can feel satisfied leaving it until tomorrow, when his phone rings. He doesn’t recognize the number, nor does he know if he wants to answer it. It’s in the middle of the night, who would bother calling him at this time of night?

He mutes the call, setting it back on his nightstand as he takes off his shirt, tossing it onto the floor. He’ll get it in the morning, right now he’s tired, and just wants to sleep. He’s tired, exhausted really, and nothing sounds as good as wrapping himself in his blanket and closing his eyes. He hopes that Zayn will sleep in tomorrow, even though it’s futile to wish for, because Zayn always sleeps in, and Liam always wakes up early to check and make sure he’s okay. But he can hope it’ll change in the morning, on his end, not Zayn’s.

His phone begins ringing again, shrill sounds disturbing his quiet house and he groans as he sits on the edge of his bed, grabbing the phone off the table and accepting the call.

“Hello?” He says, pressing it to his ear. It’s quiet for a moment, but he can hear distant music and shouting in the background. No one answers him and he contemplates hanging up, because he doesn’t have time to try and get someone to talk to him that’s calling at one in the morning, they should have already said why they’re calling. “If you’re there, say something, or else I’m hanging up.”

“Um, hi.”

Liam sits up a little straight, pulling the phone away to stare at the number for a second before he presses it against his ear. “Harry? It’s one in the morning, what’s going on?”

“Can you come and get me?” Harry says, his words low and slightly slurred together.

“Harry, I don’t understand. Do you know what time it is?” Liam asks.

“No, um, can you get me?” Harry asks again.

“Why didn’t you call your dad? Are you sure everything is okay?” Liam asks, slightly panicked that something is going on that Harry isn’t telling him about. “Are you with your dad?”

“He’s at home,” Harry says, and he groans, a miserable sort of whine into the phone. “I need you to come get me.”

“Harry, what’s going on?” Liam asks, his voice firm, because he doesn’t have time for Harry’s cryptic games. It’s one in the morning, and he’s tired, and Zayn is sleeping. He doesn’t have time to be on the phone with Harry, not when Harry just spent the day yelling at him in his office.

“I don’t know where I am. I’m, fuck, I think I’m drunk,” Harry slurs and it finally makes sense to Liam why his words are jumbled together and he’s talking slow, like his voice is molasses dripping off of a spoon.

Liam rubs his hand across his face, sighing deeply. “All right. Can you give me an address, Harry? Do you see a street sign or numbers? Anything?”

“Yeah, but I can’t read them, they’re—it’s blurry. I can’t focus,” Harry says, and it sounds like he’s frowning. Liam stands up from the bed, grabbing the shirt he threw on the floor and putting it back on quickly, removing the phone from his ear and placing it back, listening as Harry struggles to read the numbers of the house in front of him.

“Focus, Harry, okay?” He grabs a pair of socks out of his drawer, pulling them on as he walks, hopping towards Zayn’s room. He curses Harry in his head for doing this, for forcing him to get dressed again and remove Zayn from his bed while he sleeps, but can’t find it in him to be angry, because he doesn’t know why Louis won’t pick Harry up, but he knows Louis will kill him if he finds out Liam left his son out on the street, drunk and alone.

“It’s 713,” Harry says. “I got it.” He giggles in Liam’s ear, obviously proud of himself for reading the numbers.

“All right, can you find a street sign and read it to me? There are probably several 713 in town, and I don’t have time to go to them all to find you,” Liam says, lifting Zayn carefully out of bed, resting his body against his chest as he heads towards the front door. He stops to slide his feet into his shoes before he locks the door and heads for the car. “Harry, come on.”

“I’m trying,” Harry snaps, his voice angry and annoyed. “The fucking thing won’t stop moving.”

Liam rolls his eyes and presses the button that unlocks the car doors on his keychain. He opens the back door carefully and quietly, mindful of his sleeping son in his arms. He has the phone propped between his ear and his shoulder as he tries to get Zayn into his car seat without waking him.

It feels like a personal victory when Zayn doesn’t wake up, he sighs, head tipping back and mouth dropping open slightly, but he doesn’t wake up. Liam shuts his door as quietly as possible before he climbs into his own seat, shoving the key in the ignition.

“Harry, where are you?”

“Meaner Woods,” Harry says, sounding confused.

“Manor Woods?” Liam asks, the street name sounding vaguely familiar. He doesn’t know the exact location, but he can remember being over there a few months back, for whatever reason he can’t remember, or simply just doesn’t care about. He’s got his ex-boyfriends son on the phone, drunk and alone in the middle of the night, and all he cares about is making sure that he’s safe.

“Yeah, that’s it,” Harry says, perking up a little. “Can you come get me?”

“I’m on the way, all right? But you’re staying on the phone, because it’s late,” Liam says, leaving the ‘and who knows what the fuck could happen to you’ to himself.

He puts his car into reverse and backs out of his driveway, listening as Harry tells him the address over and over again, asking if Liam is going to come get him.

Liam makes it to the end of the street before the call is disconnected, and one call to Harry lets him know that Harry’s phone has died. He steps on the gas pedal a little harder, praying that Harry will stay where is he, and that nothing will happen to him.

~~~

It takes almost forty minutes to find Harry, he’s on the opposite side of town, bordering being in another place all together as Liam’s car rolls to a stop in front of the address Harry gave him. He glances around and spots Harry sitting at the curb, his knees pulled up to his chest.

Liam feels his body sag in relief at having found him, tension leaving his body, because the second Harry’s phone died he’s been worried out of his mind, not knowing what to do with himself other than simply hope that Harry is smart enough and in the right frame of mind to not go wandering off. Liam doesn’t know the neighborhood that Harry is in and if it is safe or not, but from the looks of things, the heavily lit house behind him with a driveway full of cars and loud noise escaping through the open windows, it looks like Harry didn’t stray far from the party he was at, the obvious location of his drinking.

Liam shifts the car into park, checking to make sure Zayn is still sleeping before he gets out. “Harry, you all right?”

He’s shaking, his shoulders hunched together and arms wrapped around him tight. There’s a chill to the air, and besides the forty minutes he’s been waiting for him, Liam has no idea how long Harry has been sitting on the crub.

“Come on, get in the car,” Liam says, taking a few steps away from the vehicle. He watches as Harry stands his body wavering and he nearly falls over, but Liam rushes forward and grabs him, getting an arm around him to help guide him across the street. “Jesus, Harry. What were you thinking? You’re too young to be out drinking.”

Harry doesn’t answer him, but he allows Liam to help guide him to the car. Liam has to help him into the vehicle, keep his hand on Harry’s back until he’s safely inside before he can shut the door and get back into the driver’s seat.

It’s a quiet ride, Harry’s sitting next to him but his head is turned down, the shaking lessening when Liam turns the heater on, aiming the vents towards Harry.

“Harry, does your father know that you’re out?” Liam asks, tearing his eyes away from the road for a second to look at Harry, he’s shaking his head, still looking down at his lap. “You left without telling him?”

“He doesn’t know I went to a party,” Harry says and he doesn’t sound as drunk as he was on the phone, the alcohol level in his body must be slowly dissipating.

“You called me instead of him?” Liam questions, disbelief flooding his body. “Why?”

“My dad and I got into a fight, figured you wouldn’t yell at me as much,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s not my job to yell at you. Your dad can do that later. You know I have to call him, right? I can’t just let you get away with getting drunk.”

“Please don’t call him, please,” Harry begs, finally looking up at Liam. He looks desperate and scared, his eyes glistening. “Please don’t tell him.”

Liam stops for a red light and turns to look at Harry, shaking his head when he watches the teenager rub at his eyes. “Harry, I have to tell him.”

“He’s going to hate me, please, just don’t. He doesn’t have to know. I’m okay. I’m fine, please. I called you because I didn’t want to get in the car with my friends. Please don’t tell him, I don’t want him to hate me more than he already does. Just please, Liam,” Harry cries, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Please.”

Liam looks at him, feeling pity for him as he watches him cry, hiccupping sobs escaping his mouth no matter how hard he tries to make it stop. Liam’s not sure if the fear in Harry’s eyes is because he can’t control his emotions or because he’s scared that Liam will call Louis, either way he doesn’t know what to do. He has to call him, he can’t just let something like this be swept under the rug, and Louis would never forgive him.

“I won’t call him tonight, all right?” Liam says, waiting for Harry to nod his head. “And your father doesn’t hate you, Harry. I don’t know what happened, and what would make you think that but I can tell you with absolutely certainty that your father does not and will not and could not hate you.”

“That’s not true,” Harry mumbles, wiping at his eyes before he turns away from Liam. He turns to glance out the window and turns his body so he’s no longer looking at Liam, completely shutting him out.

~~~

Liam takes Zayn to bed, on the way up he motions towards the couch, telling Harry that’s where he’s going to be sleeping for the night before he disappears. He’s not sure how he feels about having Harry here for the night. He doesn’t really know what to do with it. On one hand, he’s angry, absolutely furious with the teenager for going out to a party and getting drunk, especially when his dad thinks he’s safe at a friend’s house, despite them having a fight. And because Harry called him, forcing him out of his house and pushing back his slumber to get him.

On the other hand, he’s relieved, only because Harry’s safe. He’s not hurt or in the car with his friends, he’s in Liam’s living room, and that’s enough for now.

He sets Zayn back in his bed, tucking his bear under his arm and pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead before he heads back downstairs. Harry’s already asleep on the couch, his legs pulled up and one hand tucked under his cheek as he lies on his side.

Liam sighs as he looks at him, shaking his head, because the kid infuriates him, absolutely drives him insane, but he can’t help but feel a fondness for him. He grabs the blanket off the chair, the one he threw on it after Zayn’s nap, and drapes it over Harry’s body. He wishes the sleeping teenager a good night before he heads back to bed, hoping nothing else will stop from being able to go to sleep for the night.


	28. Chapter 28

Harry is still sleeping when Liam wakes up the next morning. He’s curled up on the couch, his curls lying wildly across the pillow beneath his head while he holds onto the blanket Liam draped over him tightly. Liam sighs as he looks at him, shaking his head as he makes his way past him and into the kitchen. He has no idea what he’s going to do when Harry wakes up, but knowing that he’s going to feel miserable, and knowing that they’re both going to get a proper verbal assault, Harry for the drinking and Liam for not calling him immediately. They’re both in for a long morning, and the only thing he can think to do while Harry and Zayn are sleeping is to make breakfast. 

It’s been a long time since he’s mad a full breakfast, something other than little bits of food that’ll fill up Zayn’s stomach. He makes eggs and sausage and biscuits and potatoes with toast. It’s filling and greasy enough to make Harry feel just a bit better before his father finds out what he did. 

Liam’s still not sure if he did the right thing by not calling Louis last night, he was awake most of the night thinking about it. If he had called Louis in the middle of night and told him that he was getting Harry, it would have caused Louis to worry and panic, something Liam wanted to avoid while he was driving forty minutes across town to get a drunk teenager. And calling him after he had brought him home would have resulted in the same thing, this option ending in the possibility of Louis waking up Niall, scaring him as he forces him out of bed to bring him to over to Liam’s, which would have woken Zayn and caused mass hysteria in his living, something he really wants to avoid. 

And Louis thinks that Harry is safe and sound at a friend’s, sober and it won’t hurt him to not know for a couple more hours. It might hurt Liam in the end, keeping these things from him, but it’s for the best, or so Liam hopes. 

He sets the meal down on the table and grabs a glass of water and a couple pills from out of the bottle to help Harry’s headache before he heads into the living room to wake the teenager up. 

“Harry,” Liam says, setting the glass and pill capsules down on the table. “Harry, come on, it’s time to wake up.” He reaches out and gently nudges Harry’s shoulder. “Harry.”

Harry jumps, jerking back on the couch and staring up at Liam in confusion before he winces, pulling his hands out from under the blankets and covering most of his face with them. 

“Oh god,” Harry groans. “Oh my god, my head hurts. What time is it?” 

“It’s a little after nine,” Liam says, remembering the time he saw on the stove before he came out to wake Harry. 

“Can’t I sleep a bit longer?” Harry asks, his face half shoved into the pillow. 

“You’ve got water and something for your headache on the table right here, and the greatest breakfast you’ll ever have on the table in the kitchen. Get up, and eat it. You have a few hours left before your dad kill us both, and I need to wake Zayn,” Liam says, patting Harry on the shoulder once more before he heads to his son’s bedroom. 

Zayn’s lying on his stomach with his butt in the air, arms tucked under his body and snoring quietly, still fast asleep and content. Liam steps into the room quietly, watching his son for a moment. He thinks about Harry as he watches him, how in a few long years, it’ll be Zayn recovering from a hang over. The thought tugs at Liam’s heart, his wonderful, sweet, loving little boy is going to grow up into a rebellious teenager with mood swings. It’s the worst thing in the world, Liam thinks, watching your child grow up, and while it’s horrible, it’s also the greatest thing Liam has ever witnessed. But he’d still rather his son stayed young for as long as humanly possibly, which isn’t very long. 

“Zayn, baby,” Liam says, reaching out and rubbing his hand along Zayn’s back, gently. “Are you ready to wake up?” He continues rubbing Zayn’s back, gently trying to nudge him into alertness. 

Zayn sighs out, slowly rolling his body over until he’s lying on his back, his arms stretched out. Liam moves to brush his fingers through Zayn’s hair, dragging the back of his hand along his cheek. “Good morning,” Liam says, smiling as Zayn’s eyes slowly blink open. “There’s someone here for you downstairs.” 

Zayn sits up slowly, glancing around the room in confusion. “Who is it?” 

“Well, you’ll have to go use the toilet and then we can go downstairs and see, yeah? You got potty while I make your bed,” Liam says, lifting Zayn off the bed and setting him down on the ground. Zayn walks off slowly, dragging his feet along the ground and Liam shakes his head before he turns around and starts fixing Zayn’s blankets until the bed’s made. 

He steps out in the hall, waiting for Zayn and only after he’s heart the toilet flush and the water run does Zayn come stumbling out, holding his arms in the air for Liam to pick him up. 

“Promise Dada you won’t ever get big,” Liam says, kissing Zayn’s head. 

“Okay, Dada,” Zayn says, breathing out against Liam’s neck. “Won’t be big.” 

“That’s my baby,” Liam says, kissing his head once more as he carries him towards the kitchen. 

Harry’s sitting at the table, shirting around uncomfortably in his seat, and Zayn gasps when he sees him. 

“Harry,” Zayn says, kicking around in Liam’s arms to be set on the ground, and Liam obliges, only he sets him down in the chair next to Harry where he set his place earlier in the morning, pushing his chair in before he takes his own. 

“Hi Zayn,” Harry says, smiling at him. He voice sounds carefully happy, like he’s trying his hardest to show the pain he’s feeling from the hangover. 

“You want to play?” Zayn asks, staring at Harry with hope in his eyes. 

“Yeah, of course,” Harry says.” But only for a little while, if that’s okay with your dad.” He looks up at Liam, and Liam nods his head. 

“We’re not playing until we’ve had breakfast, right, Zayn?” Liam asks, nodding towards the untouched plates of his son and his ex-boyfriend’s son. “And after breakfast, Dada wants to have a little talk with Harry.” 

Harry nods his head and picks up his fork, taking a tentative bite as Zayn eats along enthusiastically, taking a bite of whatever Harry has on his fork at the same time as him. Liam watches along fondly, shaking his head as he eats his breakfast, listening as Zayn tells Harry all their going to do for the day. 

~~~ 

Liam pulls Harry aside after breakfast, promising Zayn that he can do something with Harry as soon as they’ve finished their talk. He instructs for Zayn to play in the living room in the meantime, turning on the television so he can watch cartoons, so he and Harry can stay seated at the kitchen table. 

“I know it’s not my business to ask, but you called me, and I’m involved now since I didn’t tell your father right away, so I’m asking, and you’re going to answer. Why were you out drinking last night?” Liam asks. 

“I wasn’t going to drink,” Harry says, his gaze set on the table instead of Liam. “I went to spend the night at my friend Mike’s house. He asked, while I was over there, if I wanted to go to some kid’s party, I don’t even know his name. So we went, and everyone was drinking, and I didn’t know what to do, you know? Nick said it was okay if I didn’t want to drink, but I didn’t want to look stupid, so I thought, well, I can have one drink and it won’t matter, but one turned into, um, I can’t remember.” 

“Harry, I’m not going to lecture you about drinking, because you’re not my son, but I will tell you that you’re far too young for this stuff. And experimenting so you can fit in is even worse. You’re better than that, and it can lead down a dangerous path, so please, next time- actually no, there isn’t going to be a next time, so I’ll just say to use your brain, please,” Liam says. 

“I don’t want to be rude, but can you please spare the lecture?” Harry asks. “My dad is going to kill me and I think he’ll lecture me enough for not only you, but my grandma, and this entire country. I’m not proud of what I did, and I probably deserve it, but I—I don’t know. I’m sorry for calling you last night.” 

“No, don’t be sorry for that. It was the only thing you did right. You were smart, you did the right thing by waiting outside and not getting into a car with someone there. I can understand why you might not have wanted to call your father, and if I’m the person you want to call when this happens, then call me, but let’s not make this a repeat occurrence,” Liam says. 

“I couldn’t call my Dad,” Harry says, shaking his head and looking at Liam sadly. “I think he hates me.” 

“I don’t know what would make you think that, but he could never hate you.” 

“He might when he finds out what I did,” Harry says, chewing on his bottom lip. 

Liam sighs, shaking his head. “He’ll be angry, but that doesn’t mean he hates you. He’ll be upset and disappointed, but he could never hate you, Harry. Your father loves you, far more than you realize. 

Harry nods his head, looking small and insecure. “Would it be all right if I went to go see Zayn now? Or did you have more to talk about?”

“No, go ahead, but you only have an hour and a half. I need to figure out what I’m going to say to your dad, and then we’ll have to drop Zayn off at my mom’s,” Liam says. 

“Do we have to tell him anything?” Harry asks, biting on his bottom lip. 

“Harry, if you won’t or don’t tell your father, then I’ll have to, because he deserves to know.” 

Harry nods his head and shrugs his shoulders. “It was worth a shot.” 

~~~~~

To say Louis is surprised when he opens his front door to see Harry and Liam standing behind it would be an understatement. When he heard the tentative knocks on his door, he had thought it was going to be the neighbor boy asking if Niall could go over to his house. He never, not even for a moment would have thought it would be the two of them. 

“What’s going on?” Louis asks, looking back and forth between the two of them. “Did I tell you to pick him up or something?” 

Louis stares at them, noticing the way Harry looks up at Liam, like he’s waiting to see what Liam will say instead of answering on his own. 

“Um, I wanted to talk to you, Louis. Privately, if that’s all right,” Liam says, nodding at Harry and smiling at Louis. 

Harry brushes past Louis and disappears into the house, Louis watches him go in confusion, staring at his retreating figure as he walks away. He wants to say something, he wants to call Harry back and demand to know what’s going on, but he doesn’t know if Harry knows what’s going on, or why these two would be standing on his porch together. 

“What’s going on? Is everything all right?” Louis asks, pulling open the door wider to let Liam into the house. Liam smiles at him as he steps instead, barely walking into the living room before he turns back around to look at Louis. “Liam?” 

“I don’t know how to say this, but they always say it’s better to do this quick and painless instead of slow and painful, and while I’m telling you this, I’m going to need you to try and remain calm. Or well, as calm as someone in this family can,” Liam says, pulling a face and shrugging his shoulders. 

“Should I be scared?” Louis asks. “I feel a little scared.” 

“Last night, at about two, or something like that, Harry called me,” Liam explains and Louis tilts his head to the side in confusion. 

“Why would he call you? How did he even get your phone number?” Louis ask. 

“I’ve left it here before, when we, um, would go out and leave Zayn here. I guess he stored it in his phone, I’m not sure,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders. “And he called me because, well, we have to talk about this after I tell you, okay? Because last night, and a bit this morning, he kept saying that you hated him and wouldn’t believe me when I told him otherwise. 

“Last night? This morning? Liam, what the hell is going on?” Louis questions, hoping Liam will just tell him instead of holding off on it. 

“Harry and his friend went to a party last night, and, um, there was alcohol there, and in the middle of the night, Harry called me to pick him up, drunk,” Liam says, biting on his bottom lip. 

Louis stares at him for a moment, blinking slowly with his mouth dropped open a bit. “Please tell me that you were drunk,” Louis begs, not sure what he’s going to do if Liam tells him differently. 

“No, he was.” 

“Holy shit,” Louis breathes, taking a step backwards to lean against the wall. “Holy fucking shit. I’m going to kill him.” He pushes off the wall, ready to march to Harry’s room and yell and scream, and whatever else might come into his mind, but Liam’s hand on his chest stops him. 

“Louis wait, I spoke to him this morning, and I’m not telling you what to do with your son, that’s your business, but you should know that it sounds like he didn’t really want to do it. It sounds like he was feeling pressured and also feeling like his father might hate him, and possibly wanting an escape. I don’t know what was going on in his head, but before you kill him, I think you should talk to him. He’s not feeling so great about what he did, or so I’d guess,” Liam says, slowly removing his hand from Louis’ chest, but he looks like, if need be, he’d put it back in place to prevent Louis from running down the hall. 

“I bet he doesn’t feel well, fifteen years old and he’s fucking hung over. And you had him all night. Why didn’t you call me, Liam?” Louis demands to know, poking Liam in the chest with his finger. “That’s my son in there and I should be informed if he’s consuming alcohol and sleeping on your fucking couch.” 

“You’re right, I probably should have called you, but what would you have done Louis? You’d have woken up Niall, scared him, and then been in a panic while I drove forty minutes across town to get him, and forty minutes back.” 

“Niall spent the night at a friend’s house,” Louis says. 

“Yes, because I know exactly what goes on in your house,” Liam says, rolling his eyes. “I only know when I get a call at two in the morning, and I have to get my sleeping child out of his bed, put him in the car, and drive across town.” 

“You didn’t have to pick him up. You could have easily called me to get him. I am his father after all,” Louis says, glaring at Liam. 

“I didn’t have a problem getting him, Louis. I’ve already told him this, but he did the right thing by calling me. He was too worried about you hating him before he went out to call you, so for some reason, whatever it may be, not like we’ll ever know, he’s going to keep it bottled up for the rest of his life, probably, but he called me. He called me instead of getting in a car with his drunken friends, and possibly saving his life, so while I know that he’s your son, I didn’t want to wake you up and freak you out. He was safe with me. He fell asleep as soon as he lied down on my couch, I put a blanket it on him, and I would have had him over here sooner, should have had him over sooner, but Zayn… Well, you know how Zayn is with Harry,” Liam says, waving his arm around a little, like the motions will tell Louis how Zayn is. And Louis knows, of course he does, but his mind can’t seem to get past anything other than Harry getting drunk and Liam keeping it from him. 

Louis’ son, his underage son, was out drinking and doing things he shouldn’t have been doing. Louis thought he would be sleeping over at a friend’s house, playing video games, listening to horrible music, and talking about boys and girls. What he did not think was that his son was going to go for the night and do something he knows he shouldn’t be doing, not just by Louis’ rules, but also by laws. 

“You should have called me,” Louis says, his voice carefully controlled. 

“I probably should have, but you slept soundly in your bed, and your son is alive, so at the end of the day, it all worked out,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m sorry for not calling you, but I’m not sorry for getting him.” 

Louis takes a deep breath, counting backwards from ten in his head. He’s angry, and rightfully so, and the only thing he wants to do is to get to the bottom of this situation, and he doesn’t need Liam to do that. “I think you should go home,” Louis says, nodding his head and opening his front door. 

“Louis,” Liam starts, but Louis cuts him off, holding his hand in the air, signaling for Liam to be silent. 

“Liam, please just go. Please.”

“All right,” Liam says, nodding his head and walking out of the opened door. 

~~~ 

Louis tries to calm down before he goes to talk to Harry, he really does, but he feels a bit like he’s on fire, his skin prickling with anger while his heart pounds in his chest. He genuinely, not for the life of him, knows how to handle this situation, and pacing across his living room, burning holes in the carpet, isn’t going to help solve anything. 

Harry’s bedroom door is cracked open when Louis finds himself at the end of the hall. He hesitates for a moment before he simply pushes it open, finding Harry sitting on his bed and staring up at him. 

“You shouldn’t have yelled at Liam,” Harry says. “I was the one who got drunk, not him.” 

“I’m not sure what to start with first, why you called Liam or why you were drinking,” Louis says, slowly stepping into the bedroom. He grabs Harry’s desk chair and sits down, looking at Harry expectantly. 

“I called Liam because I didn’t want to call you. It was call Liam or get in the car with someone or walk. The last two options are stupid, even after drinking I’m not that stupid.”

“So why did you drink? And tell me the truth, please,” Louis says, willing to beg Harry to tell him what’s going on so he can understand. 

“I didn’t want to look like a loser,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders. “Everyone else was drinking and offering it to me, and I said no a couple times, but the looks people gave me… It was like I was an idiot and I felt like everyone was making fun of me when I’d walk away form them, and I didn’t like that feeling, so I just did it. It tasted awful and I didn’t like the feeling, like I couldn’t control myself. I threw up a couple times, and it was terrible, so I went and sad outside for a couple of hours until everything stopped spinning and I called Liam.” 

“Harry, that’s a horrible reason to drink. You can’t do something just because other people are,” Louis says. 

“I know that, I do, but I didn’t know what else to do.” 

“You call me. You call me and tell me to come get you. Everyone was drinking, they’d never remember you left.” 

“Dad, I don’t want to call you when I’m at a party,” Harry says, rolling his eyes. 

“All right, then call Liam, I guess, if he’s the one you want picking you up, but you don’t drink. Harry, you could have gotten hurt. Something could have happened to you besides throwing up, do you understand that?” 

“Of course I do, I’ve taken health classes at school.” 

Louis smiles, shaking his head sadly. “You’re still so young, Harry. You’re so innocent sometimes. This isn’t health class, this is real life.”

“I know that,” Harry shouts. I wasn’t at the party sitting in a desk with a book out in front of me. I’m not stupid. I’ve seen pictures of the car accidents. I’ve heard the stories when you’re watching the news. I’m not an idiot. Why do you always think the worst of me?” 

“I wasn’t saying it as an insult, Harry,” Louis says. 

“No, you only implied it,” Harry says, shaking his head. Louis watches as he casts his gaze down, staring at the blanket on his bed, picking at it with his fingers. It makes Louis think of Liam, and how he kept saying that Harry believes Louis hates him. 

“Liam, he, uh, said that you think I hate you,” Louis says carefully. “Why do you think that?” 

“It’s the truth, isn’t it?” Harry asks, shrugging his shoulders. 

“It couldn’t be further from the truth,” Louis sighs, shaking his head. “You can drink all the alcohol in the world, and I still wouldn’t hate you.” 

“You blame me for your break up, don’t you?” 

“I blame a lot of things on the break up, but not you. I blame myself for not doing things properly; there was a better way to date Liam, a way that included you kids more and giving you all time to adjust to it. It’s different for him, Zayn is still young, but you and Niall…You’re older, and it shouldn’t have been forced upon you guys the way it was. I should have listened to you both more when you spoke out against our relationship,” Louis explains, hoping his words will finally click instead of Harry’s head. “I blame Liam for being the one to say the words, and neither Liam or myself are you, so I do not blame you.” 

“All right,” Harry says. “So, how long am I grounded for?” 

~~~ 

It’s a quiet night after that. Harry stays in his room for the better part of the day, sleeping off his hangover when he’s not curled up on the couch watching Niall play video games. Niall was clueless, coming back home a little after lunch and telling Louis every little detail about his stay with Sean before he rushed off for a shower so he could play his games all day. Louis kept to himself, thinking about the things he and Harry talked about in the afternoon. 

~~~

It’s thirty minutes after two when Louis’ phone rings in the relative silence of his house, jerking him awake. It takes him a brief moment to wake up, reaching around blindly in the dark as his eyes try to focus to find his phone. He almost doesn’t answer it, but then when he reads the ID and sees that it says Harry, he answers. It’s not Harry on the phone, but a stranger informing him that his son has been in a car accident and he’s being transported to Saint Mary’s Hospital. The stranger says he’s an EMT and is requesting permission to give Harry the emergency treatment he needs.

It’s thirty-three minutes after two when Louis rushes out of his bedroom for Harry’s. 

It’s thirty-four minutes after two when he finds Harry’s bed empty and bedroom window open, and Louis tells the man that he’s on his way.


	29. Chapter 29

The first thought Liam has when he’s woken up in the middle of the night is that he might, if he weren’t so incredibly tired, scream at the person is banging on his door. He doesn’t bother putting on proper pajamas bottoms, but he does grab a shirt, pulling it over his head as he rushes towards the door in his boxer shorts. He curses as he makes his way across the house, because if the person behind the door wakes Zayn, he’s probably going to lose his mind, because right after he deals with this, he’s crawling underneath his blankets and not waking up until it’s absolutely necessary for his sake, and Zayn’s. 

He’s surprised, not as much as he should be, when he yanks his door open and sees a wild, frazzled looking Louis staring at him with his fist raised in the air from knocking. He’s still in his pajamas with a pair of athletic shoes on his feet. Niall’s standing behind him, hair messy and wearing his own pajamas, a pair of plaid shorts and a band tee that Liam thinks he’s seen Harry wear to work once, back when he refused to wear the uniform. 

“What’s going on Louis?” He asks, leaning against the doorframe, because it seems like the Tomlinson’s have something against him sleeping soundly for a night this week. 

“Harry was in a car accident,” Louis says, and Liam straightens up, suddenly feeling awake and alert. “I need you to watch Niall, please. My mother’s house is too far away, and I need you to take him, please.”

“Dad, I want to go with you,” Niall says, and it sounds like he’s been crying. “I don’t want to stay with Liam.” 

“Niall, it’s just going to be until I know what’s going on, all right? I promise you can come see him as soon as I know what’s going, but please, just stay with Liam,” Louis says, running his fingers through Niall’s hair. “Can he stay with you?” He directs the last part of it towards Liam, his eyes pleading with him. 

“Of course, yeah. Niall, come inside,” Liam says, stepping away from the door to allow Niall more room to enter. 

Liam watches as Louis leans down and kisses Niall on the head and gently nudges him towards the door before he’s rushing back towards his car and driving off. He and Niall both watch him go, but only Niall is releasing shaky breaths and turning to look at Liam with sad, tear filled eyes. 

“Why can’t I see Harry?” Niall asks, stepping inside of Liam’s house. 

Liam shuts the door and flicks a light on before he places his hand on Niall’s back and helps guide him over towards the couch. “Niall, I’m not even really sure what’s going on. Can you tell me what’s happening?”

“I was sleeping and he woke me up, then we got in the car and I kept asking where we were going and why Harry wasn’t coming with us, but he ignored me until he pulled the car over and said that Harry was in the hospital because he was hit by a car. I wanted to go with him, but he wouldn’t let me. He made me come here, and I don’t want to be here,” Niall says, rubbing his eyes with his wrist. “I want to see Harry.” 

“Your dad said that he’d let you see him as soon as he knows what’s going on, maybe when he gets there Harry will be ready to discharge and you’ll be able to see him. We can’t panic, okay? Your dad and Harry need you to be brave right now.” 

Niall rubs at his eyes and nods his head, releasing a shaky breath. “Okay. I can be brave,” he says, and he sounds small, and it tugs at Liam’s heart, because Niall’s only ten and his favorite person in the entire world is in the hospital, and he has no idea what’s going on with him. Liam feels nothing but sympathy for him. 

“How about you go lie down in my bed, try to go back to sleep. I’ll stay up if your dad calls, I’ll tell you immediately, I promise, but you need to get some rest. If you go to the hospital to see Harry, you should be fully rested, all right?” Liam says, helping Niall up from the couch. 

“I need you to tell me when he calls, okay? Please tell me when he calls,” Niall says, allowing Liam to guide him towards his bedroom. 

“I will, I’m going to show you to my bedroom and then I’m grabbing my phone, and I’ll be downstairs,” Liam says. He doesn’t bother turning on his light when they reach his bedroom, just guides Niall’s tired body towards his bed, and leaves him alone to get underneath the blankets. He grabs his phone off his nightstand and slips out of the room quietly, leaving Niall alone in the dark. 

Liam shuts the bedroom door and takes a deep breath. He’s not even dating Louis any more, but some how, him and his children have still found ways to take over his life and turn it upside down. 

~~~ 

Liam doesn’t sleep for the remainder of the night; he sits awake in his living room watching movies alone until a little after seven he’s joined by Niall. Louis doesn’t call when he’s alone, he doesn’t call when Niall joins him, and he doesn’t call during breakfast after he’s woken Zayn up. 

He doesn’t hear from Louis at all, not even when it’s nearly lunchtime, and Niall has spent the majority of the morning crying on his couch. 

Liam’s considered calling him, or texting even, but he doesn’t know what’s going on at the hospital, and the last thing Louis needs right now is a distraction. He needs to be there for Harry, even if Niall is stuck with him for the day. 

Currently, it’s a little after eleven, and Zayn is sat on the floor playing with his Power Ranger toys while Niall sits on the couch, staring at his feet with silent tears rolling down his cheeks. Liam knows that he’s torturing himself with worst case scenarios and what if’s about what’s happening at the hospital, and Liam also knows that nothing he does can help, not until he’s heard from Louis or until he sees Harry. 

“Have you heard about Harry?” Niall asks, exhaling sharply and looking at Liam with sad eyes. 

“No, I haven’t,” Liam answers, shaking his head, and hating himself for disappointing the boy again. It’s not the first time he’s asked since he’s been awake and it’s not the first time Liam has had to watch Niall’s face contort into sadness at the answer. 

“I’m never going to hear anything,” Niall cries, his eyes welling up again as he releases deep, shaky breaths and cries, rubbing at his eyes fiercely. 

“It’s okay,” Zayn says, getting up off the floor and stepping forward, placing one of his Power Ranger dolls on Niall’s lap. “Don’t cry. We play.”

“I don’t want to play with your stupid toys,” Niall says, shoving the doll off his lap, still glaring at the floor. 

Zayn looks at him sadly, his lip slowly jutting out as he drops down on the floor next to his Power Ranger, picking it up gently and holding it tightly against his chest. Liam looks at him sadly, the sight breaking his heart, but he has no intentions of allowing this to continue. 

“Niall,” Liam says, sitting on his coffee table in front of the boy. “I know you’re upset and worried about what’s going on with Harry, but I can’t have you being mean to my son. He’s only trying to help.” 

“I want to be left alone, I don’t want to play with him,” Niall says, folding his arms over his chest and staring at Liam defiantly, the behavior oddly reminiscent of his older brother. 

“I understand that, of course I do, but he doesn’t. Zayn knows that you’re sad, he doesn’t know the reason, nor does he care. Zayn is only worried about trying to make you feel better, he wants to try and make you happy,” Liam explains carefully. “Power Rangers make him happy, so he thinks they’ll you feel the same way. Being mean to him is not okay, and I won’t allow it to happen again. If you want to be alone, that’s okay; you can go hang out in my room or Zayn’s room. But I think, even if you sat down and watched a movie with him, you’d make Zayn think he was helping you, and he’d probably leave you alone.”

Liam glances behind him towards his son, his back turned towards the two of them as he rocks slowly, hugging his doll close. He looks back at Niall and sees that he’s wiping at his eyes. 

“I just want to know if Harry’s okay. Why can’t I go to the hospital?” Niall cries, fresh tears forming in his puffy, red eyes. 

“I promise that you’ll find out as soon as your father is ready to tell you. I don’t know anything, and if I did, I swear that I’d tell you, but stressing yourself out and lashing out on others, that’s not going to make things better,” Liam says. 

Niall’s bottom lip wavers for a moment before he launches forward, wrapping his arms around Liam’s neck and crying into his shoulder. Liam wraps his own around him and pats him on the back, shushing him quietly. 

“He’ll be okay. Harry’s a stubborn brat, and I imagine he’s being just as stubborn as he usually is right now,” Liam says, patting Niall’s back. 

“Harry’s an idiot,” Niall cries into his shirt. “I just want him to be okay.”

Liam’s response is cut off by the sound of crying, but it’s not Niall. It’s Zayn. Niall pulls his head off Liam’s shoulder and together they turn around to see Zayn standing up and looking at them fat tears rolling down his cheeks and tiny, but loud wails leave his mouth. 

“Zayn, what’s wrong?” Liam asks in confusion, turning his body towards his son. 

“Dada,” Zayn cries, a hiccupping cry escaping his mouth. “I’m sad.”

Liam smiles, leaning forward to pull Zayn in for a hug. Niall stares at them in confusion, tears still rolling down his cheeks, not understanding that Zayn is crying because he’s sad Niall is sad. He hugs his son, patting his back and calming him down, shushing him as he rocks him from side to side. “You all right?” he asks, pulling away to look at Zayn. 

“I’m sad,” Zayn says again, turning around to look at Niall. 

“Well, how about the two sad boys sit on the couch and I’ll put in a movie, then I’ll make you ice cream. Chocolate ice cream with the chocolate sauce on top and it’ll make you not as sad, okay?” Liam says, lifting Zayn up and setting him down on the couch. He looks at Niall, waiting to see if he’ll sit down, and he does, slowly crawling onto the other end of the couch, the end away from Zayn. 

Liam puts a movie in and then heads into the kitchen to make them their ice cream, when he comes back, Zayn is sitting on the end of couch next to Niall, trying his hardest to sit as close as possibly without being on Niall’s lap. 

“Here are your ice creams. I have laundry to do, so leave your bowls on the table when you’re finished, and I’ll clean them later,” Liam says, passing them each a bowl of ice cream before he makes off to do his household responsibilities. He glances back to them once, watching the way Zayn copies Niall, only taking bites when the older boy does. 

~~~ 

It’s an hour later, when both Niall and Zayn are asleep on the couch that Liam gets the call about Harry. 

~~~~~ 

When Louis arrived at the hospital, he was met with paperwork and a quiet, empty waiting room. He was forced to wait until the nurses could find someone to talk to him. Waiting, he finds, gives his mind time to come up with the worst ideas imaginable for what’s going on with Harry, his brain traveling to distant, dark places that he never wants to become a reality for his child. 

It’s fifteen minutes of clicking the end of his pen while he tries to remember Harry’s medical history, because at a time like this, he can’t remember if it was Harry or Niall who had the chickenpox, and which one of them was more susceptible to ear infections growing up, not like it really matters when your kid is in a car accident, but he can’t get his brain to quiet down and focus on answering the questions that the sheet of paper is asking him. 

When someone finally comes to talk to him, it’s a doctor with graying hair, and a police officer. Louis’ stomach twists in seven different ways, knotting up and sinking as he waits to hear what’s going on. 

It’s the doctor who talks first, and Louis has trouble picking up everything he’s saying to him, he’s trying his hardest to listen but his brain is working so hard that it’s all sounds of mumbled words and twisted letters, like the doctor is trying to confuse him and leave him in the waiting room feeling even more panicked than ever. But he picks up things like; the car hit on Harry’s side, causing him to sustain more injuries than the driver. He phrases like, wearing his seatbelt, bruising and swelling, broken, lacerations, and hitting his head. Louis’ brain feels like it’s spinning in circles, round and around, trying to catch the information that the doctor is giving him, but he can’t, no matter how hard he tries, fight down the panic rising in his chest and listen to the doctor in complete sentences. He catches the tail end of it, that Harry is having tests done, but he’s going to need surgery, and Louis tells him that he’s not allergic to anything and watches the doctor disappear, leaving him behind with a promise that he can see his son as soon as they’re finished with the surgery, because he’s been pushed to the top of list for the operating room. 

He nods his numbly as he watches the doctor walk away, feeling just as lost and confused as he was when he walked in the door. 

The officer talks to him about the bullshit logistics of the situation, nothing that Louis cares about right now when his son is going to go under the knife for something he can’t remember the doctor telling him about, or maybe he did, but Louis’ mind is wrapped in a thick fog. The cop asks if he knew that Harry was out so late, and tells him that the driver of the car he was in has already left the hospital, but he won’t say who, and he tells him that it's forty-year-old male driving well over the speed limit is to blame for the accident, and Louis tunes him out, it's for different reasons than when he couldn’t listen to the doctor.

When the officer leaves, he’s met with a nurse who guides him to the next waiting room, where he’s left alone to wait and wonder what’s going to happen to Harry.


	30. Chapter 30

Louis hates the waiting room. He’s been sitting inside of it for an hour, chewing his fingernails to nubs. There’s a family of three sitting on the opposite side of the room, a little girl asleep in her fathers lap while another child, a little older than the other, sleeps along the span of three chairs. It makes Louis’ stomach knot up, knowing that someone else might be waiting to find out what’s going on with their family member like he is. He wants to tell the man that he’s sorry, and he hopes that his wife or whoever he’s waiting for is going to be all right, but instead he bites his tongue and pulls out his phone, dialing Liam’s number. 

It rings four times, and Louis’ stomach clenches, because he needs Liam to answer to keep him distracted. Liam finally answers and it sounds like he’s out of breath, wheezing into the line as he mumbles out a greeting. “Louis? How’s Harry?” 

“I don’t know,” Louis says into the phone, his kept low to not disturb the other people. “His doctor spoke to me earlier, along with a cop. He’s in surgery now. I can’t remember why. I was trying to listen, and he told me, but I couldn’t settle down enough to hear him properly.” 

“Oh god,” Liam breathes. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as you’re thinking. He’d have told you. If it were bad, you would have heard. Your mind would have forced you to hear that, I know it would have, Lou.” 

“Maybe,” Louis says, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, and his head in his free hand. 

“What’d the police officer say?” 

“Um, he said that Harry was in the car with someone, not sure who, but they were hit on the passenger side by some middle aged man. Both the driver of Harry’s car, and the man’s injuries isn’t as bad as Harry’s. That’s what I got from the conversation, but the officer didn’t say who was in the car with Harry, so I’m clueless as to whom it could have been,” Louis says, sighing. 

“Maybe he had a good reason for going out, Louis,” Liam says carefully. “And at any rate, it doesn’t really matter who he was out with, it matters that he’s okay.” 

“It matters, Liam. He’s never going to see this person again,” Louis replies, because he can’t see himself allowing Harry out of his sight for the rest of his life, not because of a form of punishment, but because he doesn’t want to go through something like this ever again. 

“I know it does, Lou, but Harry’s the main priority right now and you can’t focus on the details. You just have to focus on your son getting better. It’s hard, but you have to try,” Liam says, his voice soft and soothing. 

Louis releases a deep breath because he knows that Liam is probably right, more than probably, actually, but he doesn’t want to admit it right now. Nor does he want someone else to tell him how he should be thinking or feeling. 

“How’s Niall?” Louis asks, rubbing the palm of his hand into his eye, forcing himself to see nothing but the black, trying his hardest to block out the hospital around him. 

“He was a bit weepy when you dropped him off, but it’s to be expected. I put him to bed and he managed to fall asleep, I was checking on him when you called. I could hear my phone vibrating on the table. I’m on the couch downstairs, figured it’d be best not to fall asleep so I wouldn’t miss your call if you heard anything about Harry.” 

“I didn’t want to tell him until I knew what was going on, but I didn’t want him here incase it was something awful. I was lose-lose either way, but I’m glad that he’s sleeping, I was worried he might be freaking out,” Louis says, feeling a small weight lifted off his shoulders. 

Louis glances up at the sound of feet shuffling across the tiled floor, and sees the doctor approaching him. “Liam, I have to go, Harry’s doctor is walking towards me,” he says quickly before he’s hanging up the phone and jumping out of his seat, hastily rushing over towards the doctor. “How is he? Is Harry okay?” 

“Yes, Mr. Tomlinson, your son is fine. He’s being wheeled out to the recovery room right now, and then he’ll be transported upstairs into a room where we’d like for him to stay for a couple of days. He’s a minor so he’ll be in the pediatrics ward,” the doctor explains, and this time, knowing that his son is okay, Louis can actually listen to everything the doctor is saying. 

“Can you explain to me what you did?” Louis asks, feeling embarrassed that he doesn’t know. “What are his injuries exactly?” 

“To be honest with you, your son is very lucky, and had it not been for his wearing a seat belt, and the air bag deploying, I’d say things could have worse,” the doctor says, nodding his head. “He’s suffering from a few things, slight burns from the seat belt along his collarbone, and along his arms from the air bag. His right side is also significantly bruised, especially around his ribcage. It’s caused a little difficulty with breathing, but mostly just due to pain. He can’t feel that now, but he will later on, which is why he’s going to be getting pain medication. His head hit the roof of the car, but besides some slight confusion when the ambulance arrived, it doesn’t appear to be posing any sort of threat at this point. 

“Harry also suffered a few lacerations, several on his arm, but one along his eyebrow as well, right about here,” the doctor says, dragging his finger along the bit of skin between your eye and your ear. “It should be easy to hide with hair like his, but we’ve had to get him several stitches. He’s got about thirty, I’d say. I wasn’t the doctor who administered those.” 

“Okay,” Louis says, nodding his head as he tries to process the long list of injuries. “Now, what about the surgery? I’m sorry, I know you told me this earlier, but can you please repeat it?” 

“Your son both broke bones in his forearm, one of them puncturing through the skin, and we had to place screws into your sons bones to get them back into place and ensure that his arm will heal properly. He’s going to be in a soft cast for about two weeks to allow the swelling to go down properly, and then he’ll be fitted into a hard cast that he’ll need to wear for roughly five weeks,” the doctor says. “The casts are to make sure he’s not trying to use the arm while it needs to heal. Your son is going to be extremely uncomfortable, but it’s important that he doesn’t use his arm for anything.”

“Of course,” Louis agrees, nodding his head. “I understand completely. Thank you so much.”

The doctor nods his head once. “A nurse will be out shortly to let you know when you can see your son, but I imagine it’ll only be a few minutes” he says before he turns and walks off. 

Louis feels his entire body sag in relief, and it’s with great strength that he doesn’t drop down to the floor completely. 

~~~ 

When Harry wakes up after surgery, he’s safely tucked into his bed in a new room in the pediatrics ward. Harry’s one of the oldest kids on the floor, but the nurses are friendly, and come to check on him every so often, and it leaves Louis with a good feeling in his stomach. But when he wakes up, it takes all of Louis’ strength not to fling himself on top of his son and squeeze him into a hug. 

While Harry was sleeping, Louis took the time to inspect his wounds, looking at the deep purple, almost black skin trailing from his torso down to his thigh on his right side. His face is swollen, a nice braid of black thread holding the cut together on his cheek and on the upper portion of his broken arm. He’s swollen and puffy from his right arm to the right side of his face, the side where the middle-aged man’s car hit the car Harry was in. Harry looks horrible, but he’s alive, and that’s all Louis can ask for. 

“Dad?” Harry croaks, his voice hoarse and low, his eyes blinking opening slowly. “My arm hurts.” 

Louis laughs, releasing a shaky breath as he slides his chair close to Harry’s bed, resting his elbow on the mattress next to Harry’s thigh. “You’re due for pain medicine soon, I think,” he says, playing the fabric of Harry’s blanket. “We can call the nurses in soon.” 

“Can I have some water?” Harry asks, his face contorting as he lifts his broken arm to rest it across his lap. 

Louis nods his head and grabs the cup that’s sitting on Harry’s tray, getting up out of his seat to get water out of the bathroom tap. He shoves a straw into the liquid, holding onto the cup as he guides the straw into Harry’s mouth. He watches as Harry’s face contorts as he drinks, his good hand resting against his chest as he swallows it down.

“What happened?” Harry asks, shoving the straw out of his mouth and looking up at Louis with wet green eyes. 

“I should be asking you that question,” Louis says, setting the cup onto the table. “But you’re a lucky one, Harry. Bruised ribs, stitches, broken arm, and a bruise that covers the span of your body all the right side.” 

“I feel like I can’t breathe,” he says, closing his eyes and leaning back against the pillow. “My head is killing me.” 

“It’ll feel better as soon as you get some pain meds in you, don’t worry. The nurses have been checking on you fairly regularly, but I’ll give them fifteen minutes before I call them. I want to know your side of what happened first,” he says, raising an eyebrow when Harry lifts his eyes open slowly. 

“I’m sorry,” Harry says, frowning. 

“I’m sure you are, but that still doesn’t tell me what happened.” 

“I promised that I wouldn’t tell,” Harry states, biting his lip. 

“Well, you lied,” Louis says, pulling up a chair on the other side of Harry’s bed. “Promises cease to be important when you could have been gravely injured, Harry. You’re lucky, extremely lucky with what happened to you, so tell me what went on before the accident.” 

Harry looks at him for a moment, his fist clenched in the blanket. “I was with Caroline.” 

“Doing?” 

“She called me while you were sleeping and said that she needed to see me, she was parked in front of the house. I wanted to tell you, but I knew that you wouldn't let me go out, so I crawled out my window,” Harry explains, his grip on the blanket loosening. “We were talking in her car for a while, um, she’s been seeing some guy and he got a little rough with her. And she was upset, so she didn’t want to go home right away, which is why she came to our house.”

“All right, but at what point did it go from being parked in front of the house to driving around town, because that’s the part I’m curious about, Harry.”

“We talked for, like, two hours in her car, and then she asked if I wanted to go for a short drive. I said no, because I didn’t want to get in even more trouble, but she begged me, and I felt bad, so I told her we could only be gone for fifteen minutes. It was twenty minutes later that the accident happened, over by the florist on Seventh Street, I think.”

Louis’ not sure if it’s Harry’s story or just his emotions finally getting the best of him, but his skin is prickling with anger, and he has to take a deep breath to get a grip on his thoughts. “You have to stop doing stupid shit,” Louis says, not bothering to control his mouth. “I don’t understand what’s going on with you lately. First, you out drinking with your friends, a situation where who knows what could have happened if you hadn’t have called Liam. Then, you decide to go for a late night drive with your friend, sneaking out of my house, breaking my rules, and risking your life. You do realize there is a reason that I don’t allow you out after a certain point, right?” 

“Dad, I’m sorry. I didn't know what to do, Caroline was upset, some guy just slapped her around, and I didn’t want to make things worse, so I agreed to go for the drive. I knew that I shouldn’t have done it, but she was so upset that I felt like I had to say yes,” Harry says. 

“Harry, it’s a good story, it really is, but I don’t feel like I can trust you anymore. You’ve lied too many times before, and your behavior lately says that you cannot be trusted and that I’d be a fool to believe a word that comes out of your mouth,” Louis says, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“It’s not a story, it’s the truth,” Harry says quickly and desperately. 

“I’m going to go get lunch in the cafeteria. I’m starving and I owe your brother a phone call. I’ll tell the nurses to pop in for some pain medication on my way out, you should get some rest after that. We’ll worry about your punishment when you’re back at home,” Louis says, tapping his finger along the edge of the bed before he gets up, gathering his wallet and phone off the tray and shoving them into his pocket. “Ask the nurses what you’re allowed to eat, and when I get back we’ll phone down an order for you, all right?” 

“Dad,” Harry says, his voice quiet and his eyes filled with tears. “I’m not lying to you. I’m sorry.” 

“I’ll be back soon,” Louis says, leaning down to kiss Harry on the forehead before he walks out of his room. He needs a break. He needs a moment to himself so he can get himself together, because he can feel that he’s beginning to lose control. He’s tired, worn out from worrying about Harry and staying away half the night. He’s exhausted in the mental sense as well, not sure what to do about this entire situation and if he should believe his son or not. 

Louis needs a minute to himself, so before he heads down to the cafeteria for lunch, he stops by the nurses station to let them know Harry is awake and feeling a bit of pain, and to let them know where to find him if they need him. 

~~~ 

Louis sits in the cafeteria, a tray of hospital food in front of him, and a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He feels bad for leaving Harry in his room alone, but he could feel himself losing control of his emotions, and he wanted to step away from the conversation with Harry before he said something he’d regret. 

He’s glad that Harry is okay, of course he is, but he’s not sure how he feels about the reasoning for what happened. It’s a good story, well thought out, and something that makes it look like Harry had a good reason for slipping out of his bed in the middle of the night to get into a car. It’s a good story, and that’s the thing, Louis doesn’t know if it’s just a story or if Harry was actually telling the truth. He’s not sure what he can believe anymore. 

He stabs absentmindedly at his potatoes, pushing his fork around in them for a moment until he pulls his phone out of his pocket, remembering that he needs to call Liam. 

Liam answers on the second ring, his voice quiet as he says, “hey, how is everything?” 

“Good, well, Harry’s doing well, so that’s something. A few cuts, scraps, and bruises, along with a broken arm, but he’s fine. He can leave tomorrow, the nurses were saying that because he hit his head in the car, and because of the screws put in his arm that doctors like to keep an extra eye on children, which, you know, just means that if the same were to happen to me, I’d be thrown out on my ass afterwards,” Louis says, laughing lightly. 

“That’s good,” Liam says, and Louis can hear the smile in his voice. “Niall will be happy to hear that, he’s been really worried.” 

“Yeah,” Louis says, biting his bottom lip. “I should have called sooner, is he next to you? Can I talk to him?” 

“He’s actually sleeping right now, him and Zayn are both passed out on the couch. I could wake him, I guess, if you wanted me to.” 

“No, please don’t,” says Louis, dropping his fork onto his tray and pushing it away from him so he can rest his elbows on the table. “Just when he wakes up, let him what’s going on, and if you could, bring him up here? I know it’s a lot to ask, but I don’t want to leave the hospital.” 

“No, it’s all right,” Liam says. “Text me his room number and which hospital he’s at, and I’ll be there soon.” 

“Thanks,” Louis says before he rattles off a goodbye and drops his phone back inside of his pocket. He rests his face in his hands and takes a couple deep breaths, ready to head back up to Harry’s room to wait for Niall to arrive. 

Pulling his hands away from his face, he glances up to see a teenage girl standing in front of him, bruised face on full display as her light brown hair is pulled back. She’s biting on her bottom lip, looking worriedly at Louis. “Mr. Tomlinson?” 

Louis looks at her for a moment before he sighs, shaking his head. “Let me guess, Caroline?” 

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if you’d remember me. I mean, we only saw each other that one time,” she says, pulling at the sleeves of her sweatshirt. 

Louis laughs, shaking his head, because he’s barely been in the cafeteria for an hour and Caroline is standing directly in front of him, the girl Harry was with during the accident. It sets his nerves on edge. “Did Harry call you as soon as I left his room or something?” 

“What?” Caroline asks, tilting her head to the side and looking at Louis in confusion. “My parents made me come.” She points behind her, turning around and pointing at a couple sitting at a table a few rows away from Louis. They’re looking at the pair of them, and if it weren’t for her striking resemblance to the woman, Louis would have thought she was lying. “I’m sorry we didn’t stay at the hospital last night, my parents thought you might be more concerned with Harry’s well-being rather than what happened, and they might have felt that way after I convinced them of it.” 

“All right, sit down,” Louis says, pointing towards the chair in front of him. 

“Okay,” she says, nodding her hair and carefully sitting down in front of Louis. “We found out Harry’s room number and went up to see him, but you weren’t there and Harry’s a little out of it, the nurse said she gave him his pain medication already. But my parents wanted me to tell you that I’m really sorry, and it’s entirely my fault for what happened. And that I’m more than willing to work off the medical expenses, like washing your car, and taking care of your garden, or something. If you were to adopt a dog, I could walk it for you.” 

“That’s not necessary,” Louis says, shaking his head. “Harry’s fine. Your family doesn’t have to worry about the medical expenses, I don’t blame you or them for what happened.” 

“You should blame me,” Caroline says quietly, biting her bottom lip. “Most of these bruises aren’t from the car accident, Mr. Tomlinson. Harry’s a really good friend, and he’s one of the only nice guys out there, it sucks that he’s so crazy about Nick, because I’d have liked to date him otherwise, because he is so nice. That’s why I called him and made him come outside after this happened.” She points towards her face, her eyes casted downwards. “And I took advantage of him when I convinced him we should go driving. I’m really sorry for what happened. And that’s why you have to let me clean stuff for you. I can clean your windows, help with laundry, wash your car, fix up your garden, because no offense, Mr. Tomlinson, but you’ve got a lot of weeds in, like those purple flowers. They’re actually weeds, and I’m quite good at gardening.” 

“Caroline, please. It’s not necessary,” Louis says, feeling his stomach knot up when he realizes that Harry’s story was not just a story, but also the truth like he said, and that Louis, despite everything, is a bit of an ass for not believing his son. “You don’t have to take care of my house, and I’ll definitely be making a note about those purple flowers.” 

“Part of my punishment is your decision,” Caroline says quickly. “I’m grounded, um, for life, I think? And I have to work off the cost of the damages to the car with my parents, which is mostly just chores and stuff, but the other part of it was that I had to come apologize to you, but also extend my free labor onto your household.” 

Louis sighs, laughing despite everything. He has no intention of allowing a teenage girl into his house for free labor. He understands her parents desire to have her correct the situation, but it’s not necessary. “I can promise you that it’s not necessary.”

“Well, if you change your mind,” Caroline says, shrugging her shoulders. 

“I’ll tell you what,” Louis says, folding his arms across his chest. “My punishment is that you have to tell your parents where most of those bruises came from. I know it’s none of my business, but if you don’t, I’m going to anyway. Whoever did that to you deserves a punishment, not you.”

“I’m not sure that I can do that,” she says, biting her lip. “My parents don’t really like him, told me that I’m not allowed to see him.” 

“Your parents will understand, just tell them the truth and that’ll be your punishment, okay?” Louis says, watching as carefully worries her bottom lip, staring at the tabletop. 

“All right, I’ll tell them,” she says, glancing up at Louis. “I don’t want to, but it sounds better than scrubbing your toilets.”

Louis laughs, shaking his head. “I can guarantee it’s better than scrubbing our toilets. Niall has horrible aim,” he says, grabbing the tray in front of him, and standing up from the table. “Caroline, if you’ll excuse me, I have a son that I need to apologize to, and I’ll talk to your parents on my way out. And don’t worry about their reactions to the boy, if they’re feeling anything like I am, they’re just happy you’re okay.” He smiles at Caroline before he drops his tray onto the proper location before he heads off to do what he needs to.


	31. Chapter 31

“Can we stop and get Harry something before we go to the hospital?” Niall asks, bouncing around in his seat in excitement about finally being able to see his brother to make sure for himself that he’s okay for himself instead of relying on everyone else’s information. 

They’re in Liam’s car, Zayn buckled in his car seat in the back while Niall rides up front with Liam. Liam glances in the mirror, sees that Zayn is awake and flipping through a book on his lap. There’s a gift shop in the hospital, but Liam’s not sure that Niall knows about that. Hospital gift shops aren’t exactly known for their shopping, apart from flowers and balloons congratulating people on the birth of their children. Liam’s pretty sure there isn’t a market in selling ‘congratulations on not being seriously injured in your car accident’ merchandise, with good reason of course. 

“I think Harry would like that,” Liam says, driving on, changing his route slightly to accommodate stopping at a shop. “Do you know what you want to get him?” 

“I want to get him a card, because that’s good, right?” 

“Cards are, yes,” Liam agrees, nodding his head. 

“I’m not sure what else to get him. What about candy? Harry loves chocolate, and he’ll probably be sick of that hospital food. Sean told me that it’s nasty. But I don’t know,” Niall trials off, chewing on his bottom lip. “What would you get him?” 

“Maybe you can buy him playing cards, he’s got another day in there, so I bet he’ll want something to do. You could even buy him, well, I’m not sure he’d like a stuffed animal, but maybe a pillow? Or something else soft, maybe?” Liam says. “A lot of people buy plants.” 

“Harry would kill a plant,” Niall states, blunt and honest, looking at Liam seriously. “I like your ideas. We’ll get him a pillow so he doesn’t have to use one that someone probably puked on. Sean threw up all over his hospital bed when he went, and then we’ll get him cards, so he’s not bored, and chocolate because, well, we all like chocolate, right?” 

“I love chocolate,” Liam agrees, nodding his head. 

“Zayn?” Niall asks, turning around in his seat as he removes his seat belt, the car rolling to a stop as they enter a store parking lot. 

Liam glances up in the mirror, removing his own seat belt to see Zayn staring at Niall with wide eyes, obviously missing the rest of the conversation. “Zayn likes chocolate, right, buddy?” Liam asks, and Zayn nods his head vigorously.

~~~ 

Niall and Zayn end up picking up three different card games for Harry, along with four bags of chocolates and sweets, some with caramel, some with nuts, some filled with fruit flavors, and others just plain chocolate. Liam had to stop them from dumping all the various candies off the shelf and into the cart. They also got him a pillow each, Zayn choosing a pillow with an image of a tiger; Niall picking an orange and blue striped one. The only thing the two of them agreed on was the card, a simple pale green one with ‘get well soon’ on the inside. 

They’re waiting in line, ready to check out so they can make it to the hospital to see Harry when Liam notices that Niall has physically deflated, his once cheerful attitude about shopping replaced with his gaze casted down towards the floor, chewing on his bottom lip. Liam checks the line progress, sees the woman in front of them is still unloading her stuff onto the belt, and then he checks on Zayn, sees that he’s still sat in the cart, trying his hardest to open one of the chocolate bags. Liam rolls his eyes, shaking his head at his son before he averts his attention towards Niall. 

“What’s wrong?” Liam asks, kneeling down so he’s eye level with Niall. 

Niall shuffles his feet a bit, tugging at the hem of his shirt. “Um,” he says, stalling as he glances up at Liam before diverting his attention towards the floor. “Um, it’s—I don’t think we can give this to Harry.” 

“Why not?” Liam questions, staring at Niall in confusion. Niall had just been excited about it, skipping through the store, urging Liam to move faster. Zayn had tried to keep up with him, running after Niall for a few before he’d stop, turning back to look at Liam, waiting for him before he took off again, the process repeated until the chocolate aisle, when Liam had forced Zayn to sit in the cart. 

“I don’t have any money,” Niall explains, looking up at Liam with wide eyes, chewing on his bottom lip. 

Liam laughs, shaking his head and patting Niall on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about that, I have money, and I’m more than willing to pay for everything. You don’t even have to pay me back.” 

“Are you sure? My dad might be mad at me if I take your money without earning it. You didn’t invite me to the store, and well, sometimes Sean’s mom will pay for me, or Jade’s mom, but I don’t know if he’ll let you pay for me. I can put my stuff back.” 

“Niall, it’s all right. You’re not putting anything back. If you do, I’ll just grab it and stuff it back in the cart, pretending that it’s mine until we get to the hospital and I’ll blurt out to the entire room that those are from you. So, we can do this my way, where I buy it, or we can do it your way, where I buy it anyway. Your way means having to walk around the store again to put it back and then again while I go grab it again.” 

Niall stares at him for a moment, blinking slowly as he takes in his options. “I guess that I have to let you pay for it?” He still looks confused, like Liam’s ultimatum left him in shambles, even though both options were the same. 

“Excellent decision,” Liam says, winking at Niall before he stands up, glancing into the cart once more to see Zayn still attempting to open the chocolate. 

“Dada, I want,” he says, glancing up at his face, trying his best to look stern, his eyebrows knitted together. He mostly looks like a threatening baby animal, his bottom lip jutted out as he grips onto the bag of candies. 

Liam looks at him for a moment, deciding to give him an ultimatum as well. “Do you want chocolate or do you want to see Harry?” 

“See Harry,” Zayn says almost instantly, loosening his grip on the plastic. 

Liam nods his head in satisfaction, because either way, Zayn is going to get chocolate and to see Harry, just like he was going to buy the items for Niall. He feels a bit like he’s cheated a group of children, but he only feels bad for a moment, because Niall’s going to be able to give Harry his gifts, and Liam’s not going to have to pick chocolates out of a shopping cart if Zayn ever figures out how to open the bag. 

~~~ 

“What’s his room number again?” Niall asks for the seventh time since they’ve set foot in the hospital, rushing across the lobby, trying to find the elevators. 

Liam hasn’t been able to get a hold of Louis to let him that they’re at the hospital, trying three times before Niall glared at him in impatience and he agreed they could head inside. 

“It’s right down the hall, we’re almost there,” Liam says, pushing Zayn up a little further on his hip. He’s carrying Zayn, refusing to let his son run across a hospital with Niall, along with all the goodies that they bought Harry at the store. Niall’s carrying his pillow, swinging it around and Liam winces every time it narrowly misses touching the floor. Hospitals, despite their reputation for having disinfectant at every corner, are horribly dirty, and the last thing Harry needs is to rest his face against something that’s been rubbed against the diseased floor. 

Niall skips past Harry’s room, eager to find him, but unaware that he’s just rushed past him. 

“Niall, this one,” Liam says, stopping outside of the door and pointing towards the wooden door. “You go in first, let me know if it’s safe. I don’t want to disturb him.” 

“Right,” Niall says, pushing the door open with force. “Harry, can Liam come in?” He shouts it, not even bothering to check if Harry was sleeping or being examined by a doctor. He hears Harry laugh, followed by his confirmation and Liam walks in slowly, setting Zayn down on the floor. 

Harry’s lying on his back, his arm wrapped up and shiny cuts and bruises along his face and arms. His face is a little puffy, swollen a bit and Liam tries not to make a face at his appearance. He looks awful, but alive, and Liam guesses that’s all that matters at a time like this. 

Louis is missing, but a chair is resting against the side of Harry’s bed, so Liam knows that he’s around here somewhere. He stands back and watches as Niall takes a seat, helping Zayn up to sit next to him, Liam’s son standing on the chair, holding onto Niall’s shoulders for support. 

“Zayn, be careful.” His warning goes ignored, Zayn instead watching Harry intently as he answers Niall’s question about what happened. 

“But you’re okay, right?” Niall asks, his voice sincere. 

“Yeah, I’m all right,” Harry answers, using his non-casted hand to scoot up a little further on the bed, groaning and wincing in pain as he does. 

“Good, because if you were dying, then you weren’t going to get any of the stuff we bought you. I know you like girl stuff, and weirdo stuff, but I got you good stuff. Liam, show him, please,” Niall instructs, motioning towards the bags in Liam’s hand. 

“I want candy,” Zayn says as Liam pulls the chocolates out first, then Zayn’s pillow and the card. They signed it in Liam’s car, finding a pen on his floor and writing him notes about getting better. Liam wrote a generic get well soon, Niall wrote a note that said he was happy Harry was alive, leaving Zayn to draw scribbles in the corner, the scribbles vaguely resembling what he assumes are letters. 

“Girls get candy and cards,” Harry says, a hint of a smile on his face. 

Niall huffs out a breath, throwing his hands up in the air and shaking his head at Harry. “I told you before, my friends think you’re my sister. Too bad the car didn’t cut your hair and make it shorter. Instead it had to break your arm.” 

“Your friends are like eight, I don’t care if they think I’m a girl.” 

“We’re ten,” Niall says, giving Harry a look of distaste. 

Liam watches them in amusement, glad nothing has changed between them and that not even a car accident could stop the Tomlinson men. 

“I’m not girl,” Zayn says, adding his own input to the argument, causing Liam to snort in laughter. 

“You’re a baby,” Niall says, and Liam’s not sure if it’s said with the same malice in his tone that Niall usually uses when he’s talking about Zayn. He’s been behaving around him since Liam had that talk with him, but it’s always different when Harry is around. Niall’s always worried about where Harry’s attention is going to lie, and he hopes that Niall doesn’t start being mean to Zayn right now. 

“You’re a baby,” Harry retorts, defending Zayn. 

“I’m a baby,” Zayn says, trying to play along but failing, causing everyone in the room to laugh while Zayn stares at them with wide eyes, a bright smile on his face. 

Their laughter causes them to miss the sound of Harry’s door opening, and Louis’ figure joining them, staring at them for a moment until Zayn shouts, “hi.” 

“Dad, where were you?” Niall asks, smiling widely at him for a moment before he decides he wants to start opening up the chocolates.

“I had to go talk to one of the nurses, he’s due for more pain medication, and they’re an hour late,” he says, huffing out in annoyance. 

“I’m okay, Dad,” Harry says around a mouthful of candy. 

“You’re not,” Louis corrects, staring at him intently for a moment before he turns to look at Liam. “You’re late.”

“Sorry, Niall wanted to pop into a shop and get Harry some gifts, so we pretty much raided the place. I had to fight the two of them in the chocolate aisle,” he says, motioning towards the bags on Harry’s bed. “I’m sorry for bringing Zayn, my mom is out with her friends doing some kind of mother type thing, and I tried calling you, but you didn’t answer. I wanted to make sure Niall made it to the room safely, and when you weren’t in here, I thought it’d be all right if Zayn came in to say hi, he’s been talking about Harry all morning. We can leave now, if you’d like.”

“No, it’s all right,” Louis says carefully. “I actually want to talk to you, um, out in the hall for a moment, if that’s all right.”

“Oh, um, okay,” Liam says, nodding his head, causing Louis to nod in response before he slinks out of the room. “Is he okay in here?” 

Harry waves him off, indicating with his hand for Liam to go, and he does, closing Harry’s door behind him and watching as Louis’ children feed his son chocolate.

“I’m relieved to see Harry is doing well,” Liam says, leaning against the wall next to Louis. 

“Yeah, it’s great,” Louis says, smiling as he brushes his fingers through his hair, pushing it out of his face. “His being in an accident has made me think a lot, about a things really, but mostly about the events leading up to this.” 

“Like what?” Liam asks, tilting his head to the side as he looks at Louis carefully, taking in his hunched shoulders and knitted brow. 

“I think it would be best if we didn’t see each other anymore

“What?” Liam asks, feeling like he’s been doused with cold water, forcing him to stand up straighter and stare at Louis with wide eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Exactly what I said, we shouldn’t see each other anymore.”

“So, you’re breaking up with me when we’re already broken up, after I took care of your drunk son, then when he was hung over. Oh and of course, when I looked after your other son while one is in the hospital. You’re breaking up with me after that?” Liam asks, staring at Louis intently, squinting in concentration. 

“Yeah,” Louis says easily, and Liam’s skin prickles with anger, his stomach clenching and something swirling around inside of him, an emotion he can’t pinpoint. 

“Louis,” Liam starts, pausing to pinch the bridge of his nose to take a deep breath. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about right now. We ended our relationship, still seeing each other all the time, and now you’re telling me that we’re not allowed to see each other. So what am I supposed to do when one of your kids shows up at my house? Because for a group of kids that hate me, they sure are over at my place a hell of a lot of the time.” 

“I know,” Louis says, sighing and shaking his head. “I appreciate everything that you did for Harry when he was drunk and hung over, I do. I was angry that you didn’t call me, mostly because I was angry with him, but I’m grateful that he trusted you and you took care of him. I’m also thankful for you watching Niall and making sure that he was okay while I focused my attention on Harry.” 

Liam scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re thankful enough that you’re thanking me by telling me to get lost, right?” 

“Haven’t you noticed that bad things have started to happen since we’ve been in each other’s lives? My son’s have been acting out, worse than ever, which says a lot since they’ve been acting out since infancy. Harry was just in a car accident, he could have died, and who knows what’s next. I don’t want something to happen to Niall or Zayn, I’m trying to stop something like this from happening again.” 

“Car accidents don’t happen because you saw someone, Louis. They’re a sick twist of fate, and usually, stop me if I’m wrong, but usually, they bring people closer together. I’m not saying that I want to be in a relationship with you, I did, up until two minutes ago, but I’m not going to inadvertently take the blame for some loser slamming his car into the vehicle Harry was in. I’m not. It’s not my fault,” Liam states, staring at Louis. 

“I’m not trying to blame you, but Liam, come on. We were selfish to ever think that we could work out. Everything has been fighting against us since day one. Harry never wanted us together, Niall doesn’t like that you have a son, and now all this. I can’t help but feel like if I stopped being selfish, if I stopped trying to be in relationships, or even stopped dating people that my children hate then I can focus on my family, and things can begin to fall back into place,” Louis explains, staring at Liam. He looks confident in his thought process, like he’s not going to budge on it no matter what Liam says. 

“You know, I’ve been through a lot since I met you. I’ve tolerated Harry and everything he’s thrown at me, not even including work related issues, but issues about our relationship. I’ve tolerated Niall hating my son. I tolerated you following me around before we ever started dating. I was patient with all of you, because after I got past your initial creepiness, I realized that I liked you, and I wanted to be with you,” Liam says slowly, wanting to make his position known like Louis is doing. “I was patient when Harry would lecture me, treat me like garbage, because if I wanted to be with you, then this is something I had to deal with. 

“It never bothered me because he’s a teenager, he loves you, and his way of showing that was turning into a crazed lunatic every time I was around. I knew he’d get over it eventually; I just had to swallow it and take it. It never bothered me. I understood where Niall was coming from when he verbally trashed my son because he’s a child, one that wants his older brother’s attention, one that doesn’t want to feel like he’s being replaced. I put up with all of this shit for you, and what did you have to put up with? My son wanting to play with his toys around you or my son sleeping on your floor when I spent the night?

“You never had to deal with anything that I have, and that’s fine. I’m not demanding you have to struggle, because it never bothered me when your son’s acted out. They’re children and they’re worried that their voice wouldn’t be heard any other way. But this, you deciding that you’re going to throw me out of your life all because of an accident, an unfortunate accident that was beyond anyone’s control, is something that bothers me.” 

Louis nods his head slowly, smiling at Liam a little sadly, like Liam is a child who doesn’t understand the rules that their parents have just laid out for them. It’s condescending, and it rips through Liam, causing a fresh wave of anger to wash over him. “I understand that you’re angry, but I’m not going to change my mind on this.” 

“Right,” Liam says, nodding his head. “Well, that’s fine. It’s your life, and it’s your decision, and it should be known that when I ended things, I did it with your children in mind. I did it to make your kids happier. You’re doing this to make yourself happier, and you’re worried about not being selfish, but you’re failing miserably.” 

Liam pushes off the wall, shoving Harry’s door open and making his way towards the bed. “Zayn, can you say goodbye? We have to head home. We’ve got a lot to get done today,” Liam lies, trying his hardest to shake the angry uncomfortable feeling sinking deep inside of him. 

“Okay, Dada,” Zayn says before he turns to look at Harry. “Bye Harry, bye Niall.” He allows Liam to pick him up, not fighting against leaving, and Liam adjusts him on his hip, holding onto him tightly. 

“I’m glad you’re okay Harry, I hope your arm heals nicely,” he says before waves, ruffling Niall’s hair on his way out, ignoring Louis who is still standing in the hallway, even as Zayn shouts goodbye over his shoulder.


	32. Chapter 32

“Dada, I need green,” Zayn says, tossing down the red crayon and looking up at Liam expectantly. 

“Try and find it,” Liam says, motioning towards the table where a slew of crayons lay out. They’re coloring, a Mickey Mouse coloring book open in front of Zayn while Liam watches, occasionally carding his fingers through Zayn’s hair, a basketball game playing quietly on the television in the background. 

Zayn sucks his bottom lip into his mouth, eyes scanning over the tabletop before he reaches out, picking up the blue crayon and looking at Liam. 

“You’re very close, but that one is blue,” Liam explains, picking up the green that’s just to the right of Zayn’s wrist. “This is green.”

Zayn stares at it, spinning the crayon around in his hand for a couple seconds before he nods his head and gets back to coloring. 

Liam watches him coloring, sighing as he presses his back further into bit of couch that’s resting against his back. His butt has been numb for twenty minutes, having been sitting on the ground for nearly two hours. It’s a quiet morning, Liam allowing himself to relax and take a moment away from his hectic life to catch a few moments with his son. 

He’s been busy the last few days; forcing himself to do everything he can to occupy his time. He goes to work in the mornings, dropping Zayn off at daycare of his mothers only to pick him up in six or seven hours, depending on his schedule for the day. Liam’s gone back to jogging, now taking it up in the evenings instead of the mornings, forcing Zayn to sit in running stroller after dinner to watch as the sun goes down, returning home to give Zayn his bath. And only after story time, and putting Zayn to bed does Liam allow himself the briefest of moments to let his mind wander, his head hung low, shower spray dropping down on him as he tries to catch his breath. 

When his mind does wander, it goes to one person, Louis. 

It’s only been a few days since Louis’ request to stay out of his life, but it plagues Liam’s mind. He’s angry with him, with good reason, he thinks. And it’s kind of mystery why. It was Liam’s decision to break up with Louis in the first place, his words that tore their relationship apart in the end, but it was under hopeful intentions that Louis’ children would be able to get whatever it is they so desperately needed. Liam ended things because it wasn’t fair to drag three children through a relationship when they weren’t ready for it. He broke up with Louis under false hopes that one day they could be together again. 

But Louis, Louis broke up with Liam when they weren’t even together, an ultimatum to get out of his life and to never return. It tastes like vinegar in his mouth, horrible and awful, making him want to throw up and empty himself of the feeling. 

The way Liam ended things made sense, it was what their relationship needed at the time. But Liam can’t see why Louis did what he did. He doesn’t understand, it feels like he’s been dragged through the mud, wound up into a little ball and used and broken until he had nothing left to give. 

Liam feels like Louis had been playing him for a fool, and he wonders how long it extends back, how long Louis might have been using him. 

It hurts, and Liam has to take a deep breath to remind himself that he’s not thinking about Louis right now. He’s not going to allow those thoughts to penetrate his mind any further while he’s trying to enjoy time with Zayn. He needs to be here for his son, no matter what’s happened in his personal life. 

So he takes a deep breath, counting backwards from thirty in his head before he sits up a little straighter, leaning closer to the table. “Can Daddy get a coloring book?” He asks, motioning towards the stack of them next to Zayn’s elbow. 

Zayn drops his crayon, flipping through the books until he passes Liam one with a rabbit on the cover. “Dada, use red,” Zayn says, picking up the orange crayon and passing it to his father.

“This is orange, baby,” Liam corrects, taking the crayon from his son. “But it’s okay, I’ve got a duck on this page, and I don’t think red would make a very nice colored duck, do you?” 

Zayn looks at the image, tilting his head to the side. “No, Dada.” He takes the orange crayon back out of Liam’s hand and gets to work on his own drawing, the entire page covered in a variety of colors, the image of Mickey almost lost on the page. 

“That’s beautiful,” Liam comments, grabbing the abandoned green crayon in front of Zayn. “Are you coloring that for anyone in particular?” 

Zayn nods his head, the movements exaggerated. “Harry,” he replies, looking up to smile at Liam before he gets back to work. 

Liam releases a deep breath, swallowing thickly. “I’m sure he’ll love that,” he says, nodding his head quickly before he begins coloring his own picture, reminding himself once again that his mind it to stay focused on being with Zayn and nothing else. 

~~~ 

Liam busies himself at work by stocking shelves, a cart full of packaged goods next to him. He’s been doing this for two hours, working himself to get the store together, picking up tasks that his employees should be doing in order to keep himself busy. 

He doesn’t know what it is about today that sets his nerves on edge, his mind swimming with thoughts of Louis, anger and confusion swirling around inside of him the more he thinks about what he said to him at the hospital. He hadn’t expected anything to come out of taking care when he was drunk and hung over, or when he watched Niall and did all he could to keep one of Louis’ son’s occupied while the other lied in the hospital. He wasn’t expecting anything out of it; he did it because it was the right thing to do. 

Liam helped Louis because that’s what he wanted to do, and that’s what he should be doing as a person, a conscious person that understands you should be helping people. And he didn’t expect anything in return, he didn’t do it in hopes that Louis and his children would change their mind about him, but maybe, possibly he expected a thank you. 

Instead he got a slap in the face, a harsh reminder that maybe Louis’ thoughts about him weren’t that far off from his son’s. 

Liam’s hands shake as he tries to steady the box on the shelf, unable to get them to line up properly. He takes a deep breath, gripping the edge of the cart before he makes off to find one of his employees, telling them to leave the produce alone and head over to aisle three to finish stocking the shelves. 

He heads towards the security office, wanting to get himself a cup of tea and to gather the stake of papers he left in there. He has a ton of orders to get through, a pile of bills and invoices that he needs to figure out, and it’s obvious that he shouldn’t be out in the store. 

Liam closes the door behind him, leaning against the table for a moment before he starts making his tea, hands shaking as he goes through the motions. 

He doesn’t know why this is bothering him so much, this feeling of being dirty and used, the disappointment running through his body in waves that crash down on him, overwhelming him and leaving him breathless. 

Liam feels tears prickling behind his eyes as the microwave dings, letting him know that his water has been heated enough to drop the tea bag in. He uses shaky hands to drop the bag in, adding copious amounts of sugar to the cup as he takes deep, shaky breaths. He pauses, gripping on the tabletop to gain his composure, forcing himself to get over it. 

He’s an adult, and it’s not the end of the world. He’ll be all right. It just stings a bit. 

When Liam turns around he nearly drops his tea mug, Harry standing in the doorway, bright green cast on his arm, bruises fading on his visible skin, and he’s staring at Liam. “Are you all right?” He asks, and Liam nods quickly, blowing across his tea. 

“What are you doing here, Harry?” Liam asks, a new wave of confusion washing over him as he stares at the teenager. He’s injured, just getting out of the hospital a few days ago and now he’s standing in the security office. 

“I’m scheduled to work today,” Harry replies, shrugging his shoulders and with those words Liam realizes that Harry is in fact wearing his uniform. 

Liam stares at him, setting his tea down on the table before he turns around to look at the schedule on the wall behind him, the little sheet of paper he printed off for the month and frowns when he sees Harry’s name scribbled in for today. “I didn’t realize you were still on here, I’m so sorry, Harry. You don’t have to work, I understand,” Liam babbles, feeling like an ass. 

“It’s okay. I don’t know if I can work the register until my arm heals, or well, I could, but it might take me a long time, and customers get pretty angry if you take a while. Maybe the cast will stop them from screaming. It’s not a Thursday so the coupon moms aren’t here today,” Harry says lightly, smiling at Liam. 

“Right, of course. Well, later, when you’re more comfortable with your cast, we can put you on restocking duty, but for now you can come back into my office with me and help me with all this paperwork,” he instructs, pointing down at the stack of people, scooping it into his arms and grabbing his tea. “Are you feeling all right?” 

“I’m fine,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders. “It all still hurts, but I’m pretty drugged up most of the time. I don’t really feel it. They won’t let me stop taking the pain meds because then my ribs hurt and it’s hard for me to breathe. My dad freaked out a bit about it. That’s kind of why I want to work, I want to get away from him for a little while. I don’t think he’s going to come here to try and stalk you anymore, so I’m in the clear to enjoy some quiet.”

Liam nods his head, ignoring the bit about Louis coming to the store, or well, not wanting to come to the store because he doesn’t want to see Liam. “He worries about you is all, he loves you a lot. I know I’d be worried, if it were Zayn.” 

Harry sighs, nodding his head and rolling his eyes, a contemplative look on his face. “I know he worries, which is why I want to apologize.” 

“What do you need to apologize to me for?” 

“My dad yelled at you after you brought me home that night, and I’m sorry. I didn’t call you because I wanted to get you in trouble. When I went out that night, I was angry, and it was really stupid of me to drink. It wasn’t even fun, I don’t know why people rave about it so much, I felt like shit in the morning. But anyway, when I knew that I needed to get home, I couldn’t ask anyone there, and I didn’t want to call my dad because he’d kill me, so I called you. I wanted to call someone that I knew wouldn’t kill me,” Harry explains, studying Liam carefully. “I just knew that you wouldn’t hate me if I was drunk, but I didn’t think about how my dad would yell at you and hate you because of it. I’m sorry. I thought he would be okay with it because he likes you and he trusts you.” 

“Oh Harry, it’s okay,” Liam says. “I’m not worried about your father yelling at me. It’s not the first time a Tomlinson has yelled at me.” He smiles at Harry, the teenager blushing slightly as he laughs, quiet sounds escaping from his mouth. 

“I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t trying to make him hate you, not this time at least,” Harry says, smiling at Liam. 

And something inside Liam snaps, a shaky smile spreading across his face before he lefts out a hiccupping sob. He doesn’t know where it comes from, but somewhere between the realization that Louis might not have ever cared about him and Harry being nice to him, finally being nice to him now that everything is over hits him like a train, his emotions crumbling as he scrambles to control them. 

“I’m so sorry,” Liam says, setting his tea and papers down on the table, pressing the palm of his hands into his eyes, willing the tears to stop. He’s trembling, and he knows that Harry can see it, knows that it’s obvious by his erratic breathing, puffs of air coming out of his mouth in quick succession. 

“Liam? Um, I don’t know what to do right now. Are you okay?” Harry asks and he sounds worried, and Liam feels terrible for making the teenager worry about him. 

He nods his head slowly, rubbing fiercely at his eyes. Despite how sad he had been when he broke things off with Louis, this hurts worse, something about the break and the way Harry is treating him feels like the end, like there’s no hope for him and Louis. 

It takes what feels like hours to for him to calm down before he can pull his hands away to see the concerned expression on Harry’s face. “I’m sorry about that,” he says, rubbing the back of his hand against his nose, laughing lightly. “A lot of pent up shit going on right now, I guess it just kind of thought it was the right time to come out. I’m really sorry, that was unprofessional of me. I shouldn’t have done that at work, and I especially shouldn’t have done that in front of you, so I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Harry says, still looking at Liam like he’s afraid he’s going to drop down on the ground and cry like a child. He feels like a child, unable to hold himself together and get a grip on his life. He’s so embarrassed, wanting to hide away from work so he won’t have to see Harry for at least two months, which he could do, easily, if he wanted. He has enough money tucked away in the bank to keep him and Zayn living comfortably for a long time, his business is going well enough that he could hire another manager and pop in once a month to check up on things if he wanted to stop working, but he doesn’t. It keeps him from getting bored, even if he’d rather the spend all of his free time with Zayn. 

“Liam, is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, just a little stressed out. I’ve got a lot going on, but don’t worry about it. I’m sorry for that little outburst, can you promise to keep that between us? I’d hate for the other employees to find out that I’m a bit of a crybaby,” he says, laughing lightly as he picks up his tea once more along with the stack of papers. 

“I won’t tell anyone,” Harry says, nodding his head. 

“Good, thank you. Now, what do you say we head to the back and you can help me with all this paperwork? I’m sure it’ll go much quicker now that I’ve got help.” 

Harry nods his head, stepping to the side to allow Liam to exit first. He looks down as he walks, wanting to hide his red-rimmed eyes from the rest of the store as he leads Harry to his office. He just hopes that he can keep it together for the rest of the day.


	33. Chapter 33

“Liam, I don’t understand how you’re so unorganized,” Harry says. And Liam cringes for the forth time in a row, because when he asked Harry to help him with paperwork, he didn’t realize that Harry would actually take the job seriously and start rooting through Liam’s filing cabinets and the mounds of papers on his desk that he hasn’t bothered to put away. He was just trying to find a job for Harry to do while his arm healed, not assign him the task of organizing Liam’s work life. “I mean, how can you have shipment orders from the year that the store opened with this year? You can’t.” 

“Well, good thing you broke your arm,” Liam mutters, scanning over the paper in his hand from one of their suppliers. “I never had a problem with it before, but I guess since this is what you’re going to be doing over the next six weeks, you might as well take care of it.” 

“Can any of this stuff be shredded?” Harry asks and Liam shrugs his shoulders. “Okay, I’m going to organize this all by year and then I’ll figure out what to do with it. I’ll be right back, I need to find boxes to put these in before I can put them back in the filing cabinet.” 

Liam watches Harry go, staring at him until he can no longer see the teenager. He doesn’t know why Harry is showing such enthusiasm for the job, or well, not enthusiasm exactly, but he’s actually doing something. Liam doesn’t know if it’s because of the fact that Liam cried in his presence just a short hour ago, or if he likes that he’s able to do something besides scan food products. 

It’s not like it matters to him, but he’s happy that Harry isn’t holding his little break down against him.

Harry comes back into his office pushing a stack of boxes across the floor with his good arm, the broken one cradled against his chest. Liam watches as Harry unstacks the boxes and then lines them up against the back wall. He glances around for a moment before he nods his head and comes over to grab a marker and a notebook. He doesn’t say anything to Liam, doesn’t ask why he’s watching him, so Liam carries on, watching the way that Harry writes on the paper before setting it on the floor in front of the boxes, some kind of organizational system. 

“I don’t have enough boxes, so the first couple years will have to double up or something,” Harry mutters and Liam’s not sure if it’s to himself or to Liam, so he just nods his head and pretends to read the paper in his hand when Harry walks around him to go through the filing cabinet. 

Liam can’t really be certain, but he’s fairly positive that this is the longest the two of them have spent time together without Harry making a comment about Liam or trying to fight with him about anything and everything in an attempt to keep him away from Louis. 

Liam wonders, briefly, if Harry would have been okay with his relationship with Louis if they had spent time like this together, getting to know each other better at work before Liam was pushed into his life outside of work with no warning. It’s something he’ll never get the answer to, and it’s not fair to blame all of their problems on a teenager who was simply acting like a teenager. 

Liam thinks that he’d hate another man for being with his mother, or another woman if his father ever tried to date. His parents are still together, so he doesn’t know that feeling, and he can’t understand it even now, but it’s not going to help the situation, because Liam and Louis are old enough to make their own decisions. Liam made his when he broke up with Louis the first time, and Louis made his when he asked Liam not have any involvement in their lives. 

“Are you thinking about my father?” Harry asks and Liam glances up, shaking himself a little to see Harry watching him carefully. 

“What would make you think that?” Liam questions, clearing his throat. 

“You kind of have that weepy look on your face from earlier, the one on your face right before you, um,” Harry motions towards his face and bites his lip. 

Liam nods and tries not to blush, failing miserably. “It was just a passing thought, nothing serious. Don’t worry about it, Harry,” he says, waving him off. “How is the organization coming along?” 

“Liam, you’re not going to believe me, and that’s fine, but I just want you to know that I didn’t mean to make everything bad,” Harry says, his voice quiet, almost a whisper. 

“What are you talking about Harry?” 

“I’m talking about between you and my father,” Harry answers, taking a deep breath. “I know that you might not believe me, but it’s true. I didn’t want to make everything bad. I just wanted you away from my dad.” 

“Harry, please don’t apologize,” Liam says, shaking his head. 

“No, just listen, okay? If I had to listen to you cry, then you can listen to this, all right?”

“Fair enough,” Liam mumbles, dropping his paper down on his desk so he can devote all of his attention to Harry. 

“My dad’s out there, I’m sure you’ve figured that out, but for some reason, he’s, like, obsessed with dating. I know that he wants to have a family, a proper one, and that’s why he’s always dating and why he adopted me when he was still relatively young. But he’s really bad at finding someone. And my whole life he’s been with really bad people, okay? So you came along, and it’s not that I hated you or thought that you were going to be awful, but my dad liked you and he doesn’t like good people, which meant there had to have been something wrong with you,” Harry explains, looking at Liam like he’s unsure he should continue talking. 

“My dad really liked you, Liam. And for a while, he was never home. And I know that Niall was bothered by Zayn, at first I thought it was because he was being weird, like he always is, but then my dad said it’s because he was scared that I’d like Zayn more than him. And then he started talking about you and Zayn joining our family, and that really bothered me. 

“It’s never been that I hate you, Liam. It’s just—My family is fine. My dad never needed anyone, and I didn’t want to see him get hurt again, because it really sucks to know that someone broke your dad’s heart when he loved them but they didn’t care back. It had been a while since his last boyfriend, but one look at you and he wanted a new boyfriend. And then I tried, really hard to fight you off, but you wouldn’t go anywhere,” Harry groans, shaking his head. “I really tried. And then Niall is talking about you and Zayn joining our family and I kind of freak out…a lot. 

“I didn’t want to make everything bad. I just didn’t want anything to happen to my dad. And I can’t say that I really want you dating him or anything, or getting back together. I’m still, um, not very keen on that idea. But I am sorry, because I kind of forgot that there are two people involved, and by wanting to protect my dad, I never thought about how you might get sad. So I’m sorry.” 

“Harry,” Liam says, clearing his throat and taking a deep breath. He really doesn’t know what to say. It’s the closest to Harry pouring his heart out to him that he’s ever going to get, and a part of him is happy that Harry has opened up in some way, but another part of him feels awful because it was never his intentions to make Harry believe that he had done anything wrong throughout his and Louis’ relationship. “You don’t have to apologize to me. I appreciate it, I do, but you don’t have to.” 

“I know, but you cried in the security room. In front of me of all people, so I figure that both of us can do something a bit odd today and it won’t have to be awkward,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders. 

Liam laughs lightly, shaking his head. “No, I mean that you don’t have to apologize to me because in no way do I blame you for what happened. You were protecting your father and whether I’m the nicest person in the world or the worst person in the world, you have every right to do something like that. I do not hold you accountable for what happened. Your father and I went about our relationship the wrong way before, we should have included you children more instead of excluding you and just hoping you’d be all right with it.”

“Zayn’s all right with it,” Harry says. 

“Yes, well. He’s three. He doesn’t understand what my dating habits might mean, not like you do. And he doesn’t understand what dating someone with children might mean, not like Niall does.”

“Still, I’m sorry. And I know that I said I don’t want you with my dad, but I hope that you’re back to being happy eventually. And um, thank you for, um, not hating me,” Harry mutters, that look on his face that Liam has come to associate with being vulnerable and self-conscious. Liam’s seen it on his face every time he’s mentioned the possibility of Louis hating him, and Liam wonders if Harry’s real issue, aside from wanting to protect Louis, is that he’s worried he’s going to be left behind and forgotten, like a boyfriend and a successful relationship would make Louis forget about Harry. He thinks maybe that’s why Harry’s actions are so loud and over the top, not because he’s trying to get his point across to deaf ears, but rather that he wants to make sure no one could possibly miss what it is he’s saying. 

“Harry, just so you know,” Liam starts carefully; he wants to make sure he doesn’t give away any details about his suspicions. “As long as you had treated my son well, which you always have, then I could never hate you. Even Niall, he spoke poorly of Zayn but he never treated him awfully, which is why I’ll never hate you. You can treat me as you wish, say whatever you want to me, and I could never hate you, just like your father. He could never hate you, Harry.” 

Harry sighs, shaking his head. “My shift is over soon. Um, should we talk about when I’m going to work next? Since, I mean, we have to stretch this organization out until the cast comes off.”

Liam takes a deep breath and nods his head, understanding that Harry doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. He figures it’s hard enough for the teenager to open up to someone, remembering conversations that he’s had with Louis, so he just smiles and pulls out his log book, ready to make a new schedule. 

~~~~~ 

The microwave dings and Louis moves quickly to get the popcorn out before he has to listen to the stupid device beep several more times. He takes the bowl that Niall is handing him, muttering a quiet thank you as the rips the paper open and drops the popcorn into the bowl. 

“Have you figured out which movie that you’d like to watch?” Louis asks, putting a piece in his mouth as he turns around to look at Niall, his son sitting at the kitchen table, tapping his fingers on the wooden surface. 

“I don’t know. I want to watch something scary, can we watch something scary?” Niall asks, looking up at Louis with hopeful eyes. 

Louis shrugs, because he did promise Niall that he’d be able to choose any movie that he wanted to. It’s apart of Louis’ new plan. It’s apart of his attempt at giving his children the time and attention that they deserve, the time and attention that he might have been neglecting during his relationship with Liam. He’s going to start spending more time with Niall and Harry separately, and then together as a family, if he can get Harry to go along with it. 

“Well, it’s daylight out still, so you won’t be up with nightmares,” Louis reasons. “All right, see what you can find that’s scary.” 

“I don’t get nightmares,” Niall replies, rolling his eyes as he stands up and heads into the living room, Louis following suit. “I watch scary movies at Sean’s house and I never get nightmares. Well, except for one.” 

“Yeah, which movie was that?” Louis asks, taking another bite of popcorn before Niall tries to steal the bowl from him. 

“I don’t remember the name, but there were people that ate other people. It was really scary. Sean and I had to sleep with the light on,” Niall says, turning to look at Louis. “But don’t tell Harry that, okay? I lied and told him that it didn’t bother me.” 

“Your secret is safe with me,” Louis says, nudging the bowl in Niall’s direction, offering him some popcorn before Niall goes back to trying to find a movie in their recordings. “And even if I did, Harry wouldn’t say anything. He doesn’t really like scary movies, remember?”

“Yeah, but he asked if I was a baby about it. I bet if he watched it, he’d cry. It was so scary, Dad. One minute they’re having a good time and then, in the middle of the night, this, um, people eater-“ 

“Cannibal. They’re called cannibals.” 

“Oh my god, they have a name for them?” Niall shouts, bouncing on the couch a little. “Oh man, I’ve got to tell Sean later. Remind me to tell Sean, okay? Anyway, the people eaters snuck up and just started snatching them one by one and eating them. It was horrible. Could you imagine? I can’t.” 

“Are you sure we should be watching a scary movie? What about that sports movie you love so much, it’s been a while since we watched that one.” 

Niall shakes his head, grabbing a handful of popcorn, before he shoves it in his mouth he says, “No, I like to watch that with Harry.” 

Louis sighs and puts a piece of popcorn in his mouth, smiling fondly as he watches pieces tumble out of Niall’s mouth and onto the couch. Niall picks it up without thinking about it, putting it in his mouth and going back to reading the movie titles on the screen. 

Louis watches him debate his decision for five minutes – a major dent in the popcorn – before the front door opens and Harry walks in. 

“How was work?” Louis asks, watching as Harry drops down on the chair next to the couch, not even bothering to change out of his work clothes. Louis doesn’t blame him, they still haven’t figured out how to get shirts on Harry without all three of them working together. It shouldn’t be that hard and Louis feels like he is missing some sort of secret, one that makes it easier to get a shirt on a teenage boy with a cast going up to the middle of his bicep. 

“It’s fine,” Harry replies. “I can’t do my normal job, but Liam is letting me organize his office and help sort through his paperwork. You wouldn’t believe how much he has.” 

“Well, that’s good,” Louis says, pretending that hearing Liam’s name doesn’t do anything to him. 

“I’ve got less shifts as well, at least until my arm heals.” 

“That’s great, Harry, but we were getting ready to watch my favorite soccer movie, and I can’t hear over your big mouth, so are you done talking?” Niall asks. 

“Excuse me, Niall,” Louis says, picking up a piece of popcorn and throwing it at his son’s head. “I’m going to have to pop a new bag of popcorn since I ate this one while you were deciding on a movie, so Harry has about three more minutes of talking.” 

Louis sets the bowl down on the couch, ruffling Niall’s hair as he walks out of the room. He can hear Niall and Harry bickering from inside of the kitchen. 

“You watch this movie all the time, pick something else.” 

“I like this movie, Harry.” 

“You watch it all the time.”

“Dad says that I get to pick the movie, so I’m picking the movie.” 

Louis smiles, shaking his head as he presses start on the microwave and listening as his sons argue and the popcorn pops.


	34. Chapter 34

“Are things going okay at work still?” Louis asks, glancing behind him to look at Harry. He’s sitting at the table doing his homework, trying to anyway, because of his cast; Niall has been assigned the task of writing Harry’s answers down for him while Louis finishes dinner. The blond was more than eager to sit at the table with his older brother for however long it took, relishing in the fact that he’s able to helping Harry with something. 

“No, Niall it’s this one, not that,” Harry says, pointing towards the packet that Niall’s filling out. “And it’s fine. We’ve finally shredded the first years’ papers that Liam didn’t actually need. He’s kind of a paperwork hoarder, but it’s going all right. I kind of like working in his office more than I actually like helping the customers. No one yells at me when I’m just trying to do my job.” 

“Harry, I don’t think your teachers like you very much. This is really hard,” Niall groans, like he’s the one coming up with the answers and not Harry. 

“Yeah, remember that next time you complain about fractions,” Harry mumbles. “I have no idea what the next one is. Um, let me check the book.” 

Louis nods along, stirring their dinner thoughtfully. “So Liam’s treating you all right, right? I mean, he’s not treating you badly or anything? He’s treating you differently from the other employees?” 

“You mean more than just letting me get away with easy labor? No, he’s not treating me any differently. Why would he treat me badly?” Harry asks, glancing up from his textbook to look at Louis. Niall glances back and forth between the two of them, tapping his pencil against the table. 

“It’s not that I necessarily think that you’re going to be treated badly. I’m just making sure of that,” Louis answers, shutting the burner off on the stove. 

“Because you think that he’s going to hold a grudge against me because you told him that you want nothing to do with him?” Harry asks and Louis stills, gripping onto the counter for a second before he turns around to look at Harry, trying to keep his expression neutral. 

“What did he say to you?” Louis asks, trying to keep his tone light. He knows that Liam and Harry are spending more time together now that Harry’s arm is broken. It’s a bit funny, if Louis thinks about it enough, how right after he asked Liam to stay out of his life that it pushes him further into his son’s. And Harry’s only complained about Liam a few times, coming home and huffing about how Liam was messing up all of his organization and his plan to keep his office organized. Louis’ indulged him, because it’s been nice to see Harry taking interest in something and showing signs that he actually cares. Louis is not going to take that away from him, and he’s happy that Liam has found a way to make sure that Harry is included in everything, but he didn’t think that his son would talk to Liam about anything that Louis might have said to him. 

“He didn’t say anything to me,” Harry sighs, shaking his head. 

“Harry.” 

Harry turns away from Louis, looking at Niall for a moment, having a silent conversation with his brother before he nods his head and sighs. “He didn’t say anything to me, not really. I told him that I was sorry for getting him involved that one night when you yelled at him, because I didn’t call him to get him in trouble.” 

“What night?” Niall asks, staring at Harry intently. “Why would you call Liam?” 

“Don’t worry about it, Niall,” Harry replies, shaking his head. “But I talked to Liam about that and then he, um, kind of cried a little bit. I didn’t know what to do, but later I talked to him about stuff.” Louis stares at Harry, blinking slowly until Harry sighs again. “I just said that I was sorry about what happened and that I didn’t want to make everything bad, I just don’t want you having a boyfriend. Our family is fine. We don’t need anyone else. That’s all we talked about, so he didn’t really say anything to me. I mostly did the talking.” 

Louis looks at his son for a moment and nods his head. He doesn’t have the energy to process any of this information in front of his kids, so he shoves it all to the back of his mind, locking it up tight to look at later, to examine it and figure out how he feels about it all. So he smiles for now, breathing out heavily and says, “Well, I’m glad that you two were able to talk. I bet you needed to get that off your chest, and I’m sure it was something that he needed to hear.” 

“Maybe,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Not maybe, I’m sure,” Louis says, nodding once more. “Now, clean up your homework. We can go back to working on it after dinner.” 

They make quick work of gathering Harry’s homework and shoving it off to the side, and putting bowls in front of everyone while Niall gets everyone something to drink. 

They eat in silence for most of the meal, Louis working actively to keep his thoughts under control and focused on the meal in front of him, a task that’s proven easier when Niall launches into a story about what happened at school. 

~~~ 

After Harry and Niall have gone to sleep and Louis is wrapped up in his blankets alone, he gives himself a moment to process everything that Harry told him. It’s easy to filter through the information because it’s not really the details of their discussion that Louis really cares about. He does, though, of course. He’s proud of Harry for opening up to Liam and talking about his feelings about things, and for apologizing for getting Liam into trouble that night he was drunk, even though it was mostly Louis’ reaction to it all that got Liam in trouble, not Harry calling him. And Harry shouldn’t have apologized for it, but he’s proud of Harry for taking a step in a mature direction and thinking about Liam in that situation. 

It’s not something that Harry would have done a few months ago, and it makes Louis happy to know that Harry is growing in some capacity, besides his ever-growing height. 

But the thing that Louis has trouble processing is the bit of information about Liam crying. There are two parts of it he doesn’t understand, the part where Liam chose to have his break down in front of Harry of all people, and what it is he was crying about, which if Louis actually allows himself to think about it, he thinks he could find the answer to that bit. 

Liam’s not the only one who has cried about Louis’ decision and the things that he said about not wanting Liam in his life anymore. It’s not the truth, the furthest thing from it, actually, but after Harry’s car accident, seeing his injuries, and knowing what could have happened to him, Louis doesn’t want any sort of distraction from his children. 

He knows, fully well, that he should have taken their thoughts and concerns into consideration, and he should have included them more into his relationship with Liam. He should have been more concerned about finding ways for his sons and Liam to get to know each other and slowly build relationships before they spent all their time out. 

They didn’t go about it the right way, and stupidly, Louis thinks that it’s some twisted, random act of karma that is trying to get back at him for neglecting his children during his relationships with Liam. It was karma’s way of reminding him of the things that really matter, Harry and Niall. 

He’s done well enough making sure that he’s spending time with them, knitting in the living room with Niall while he watches sports on television, occasionally joining in when Niall shouts abuse at the screen, and getting to sit down with him for a movie once a week. He’s also spending more time with Harry, helping him with his homework every night since Harry can’t do it on his own, and getting Harry to join in on his and Niall’s movie nights, since Louis is still hesitant about Harry going out while his ribs are healing and he’s under the influence of pain killers. Not only that, but Louis is hesitant in general after the accident about allowing his kids out of the house, requesting that the two of them invite their friends over instead of going to their place, which allows him more time with them. 

Niall is more keen on that idea than Harry is, the latter refusing to allow anyone into the house besides the one time Caroline came to check on Harry, the teenage girl only leaving after trying again to get Louis to let her do something around the house for him. 

So Louis’ life is falling together in one sense, but that doesn’t stop him from thinking about Liam and what they had. He misses Liam in every sense of the word, misses the way that they were together and the way that Liam made him feel, still makes him feel. 

He knows that it was brainless to let Liam go and to chase him even further away, but a small part of him felt like it was the right thing to do and after Harry’s accident, Louis couldn’t afford to be selfish. And being with Liam is selfish, especially after he thinks about everything that Harry and Niall had said to him during their relationship. 

Louis wishes that he would have caught onto it sooner, would have fully listened to his children and found a way to squash their worries before they turned into little ugly monsters that made his children scared rather than worried. If he had caught on to it sooner then something like this wouldn’t have happened, or it wouldn’t have panned out the way that it did. 

There are too many what-ifs and if Louis starts to think about them for too long, then he’ll never be able to keep his head together like he has been. So it swallows it all down as he tries to drift off to sleep, forcing it back into it’s little box in the back of his mind for safe keeping. 

~~~ 

Louis gets a quiet minute alone to work on his knitting when Harry and Niall both disappear into their bedrooms, the two of them off doing their own thing while Louis does his. 

It doesn’t last long though, not really anyway, because after twenty minutes Harry enters the living room, pacing for a brief couple minutes, chewing on his bottom lip. Louis doesn’t say anything, just glances up at him every few moments, waiting patiently to find out what it is that Harry wants. 

Harry finally sighs and collapses onto the chair, wincing when his arm his the furniture, the pain not as severe due to the pain medication. Louis hates that Harry has to function with the aid of painkillers, but when they tried weaning him off, Harry had cried at the pain of taking a breath along, and cried even harder when his sobs rattle his ribcage around and make the already bruised bones hurt even worse. It’ll only be a few more weeks and he’s already taking a lower dosage than before, so that’s something at least. 

Louis doesn’t realize that he’s lost in his thoughts until he glances up and sees Harry staring at him expectantly. “I’m sorry, what?” Louis asks, shaking his head and setting his knitting to the side, leaving the sweater abandoned to give his full attention to Harry. 

“I asked if you were busy, but I guess you are. We can talk later,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders like it’s not a big deal. 

“No, it’s fine. I was just thinking is all, what’s up? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s um. Well, it’s all right. I just, um. I was talking to Nick just now and I know that you don’t want me going out, but Nick kind of asked me out, like, um, on a date. And I really want to go, you know? We’ve kind of talked about it a lot, really. We don’t really want everyone to know. Caroline knows, but I’m not ready for everyone to know just yet. But I really want to go on this date,” Harry says, playing with his the hem of his shorts, casting quick looks up at Louis. “So, um, would you let me go out with him?” 

Louis sighs, taking a deep breath. “It’s not the date that I have a problem with,” Louis starts off slowly, because he knows that Harry is going to date whether Louis wants him to or not, and he’s happy that Harry came to him, but after finding Nick in his son’s bedroom, he’s just not sure how he feels about the other teen.

“You just don’t like that he’s a boy? Right?” Harry asks, glaring at Louis. 

“That would be pretty hypocritical of me, don’t you think, Harry? And you should know that it has nothing to do with gender. I’m just not sure how comfortable I am about Nick, I’d like to get to know him, or at least meet him properly before you go out with him,” Louis clarifies, watching as his son rolls his eyes and huffs out a breath. 

“Dad, you met him, remember?” 

“I don’t think it really counts as meeting him properly when I’m kicking out of your bedroom, in all honesty,” Louis says. 

“Are you talking about your boyfriend?” 

“Niall,” Harry groans, giving Louis a look. “Why do you always have to listen in on conversations that aren’t any of his business? And he’s not my boyfriend, not yet anyway.”

“It’s my house, I can listen if I want to. And Dad never asked to meet my girlfriend,” Niall says and Louis turns to look at him, giving a look that tells him it’s really not the time to say something like that. Niall just shrugs his shoulders and continues making his way into the room, dropping down on the couch next to Louis. 

“That’s because you’re ten and it’s not a real relationship. You can’t be boyfriend and girlfriend at ten years old, Niall,” Harry counters, staring at his brother. 

“Yes we can,” Niall shouts, shifting around on the couch so he can properly glare at Harry. “Dad just likes me more. He doesn’t like you very much.” 

“Niall,” Louis warns. “That’s not true and I don’t want to hear you say things like that.” 

“Yeah, Niall, shut up,” Harry says, and Louis turns around to see that he’s rolling his eyes, trying to fold his arms over his chest without much luck, the cast getting in the way. 

“How about both of you shut up?” Louis suggests, looking back and forth between the two of them. Niall nods his head and leans back into the couch with a sigh, his chin resting on his chest from the horrible way that he’s sitting, almost as if he’s practically lying down. Harry just casts his eyes down to his cast, picking at the plaster and avoiding Louis gaze. “Well, I didn’t think it would ever be that easy. But listen, it is different for Niall than it is for you, I’ll admit that. But Jade is still being driven everywhere by her mother, where as Nick can drive himself. You’ll be alone together where as Niall, well, Jade usually brings her friends and her mother, while Niall brings his friends. I want to know who this Nick kid is. I want to feel comfortable that you’re alone with him.” 

“So what does that even mean?” Harry questions, looking at Louis. 

“Well, what if you invite him over to dinner? Or just invite him over here to hang out. Caroline has stopped by a few times. Nick hasn’t been over once. I’d just like to see him around the house a little bit, preferably not locked up in your bedroom,” Louis says, shrugging his shoulders when Harry gives him a look. “I just want to meet him properly, and then you can go on your date.”

Harry sighs but before he can answer, Niall adds. “I can invite Jade over, too. We won’t go in my bedroom. That way it’s fair for Harry. Nick has to come over, so Jade should be forced to come over too. I’ll ask her if that’s okay. I’ll go call her right now.” 

“He’s so weird,” Harry laughs, chuckling under his breath as he shakes his head. “Meeting Jade isn’t the same thing.” 

“No, but he’s trying to be fair to you. He wants you feel a little more comfortable about having Nick over. And it’s important to him, so we’re not going to argue that it’s not something just because he’s younger.” 

“I’ll invite Nick over,” Harry says, sounding like he doesn’t really have it in him to argue. “But I’m going to lie and say that it’s because we have to meet Niall’s girlfriend of something. I don’t want to scare him away. God, I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Harry stands up carefully, digging his phone out of his pocket. “And that sweater better not be for me.” 

“What’s the matter with it?” Louis asks, looking down at the pile of yarn next to him. It’s a simple stitch, nothing horrible about it. It’s actually for Niall, but he’s not going to tell Harry that. 

“Dad, yellow isn’t a very flattering color, especially when it looks like mustard,” Harry mumbles before he exits the room. 

And well… Louis likes it. Or he did anyway.


	35. Chapter 35

“Buckle your seat belt,” Liam instructs as he slips into the drivers seat, nodding his head once in Harry’s direction when the teenager turns to look at him. He thinks with annoying for having to put the seat belt on, but when Liam actually looks, he can see that Harry is already wearing one. “Well, good. Um, we have to get Zayn before I can take you home. I hope that’s all right. I don’t want to be late grabbing him, but I don’t want your dad to get angry with you if you’re late.”

“No, it’s okay,” Harry says as Liam starts driving, the teenager helping himself to finding a suitable radio station. “And well, he’s probably expecting me later, because I said that I was going to walk home but my cast gets all sweaty and itchy and it’s really annoying. Niall had practice tonight, so he can’t get me, so yeah, we’re fine.” 

“All right,” Liam says, nodding his head. 

Liam doesn’t mind giving Harry a ride home, he doesn’t, especially since Harry just organized the first three years of the grocery stores paperwork, figuring out what could be shredded and disposed of versus things that Liam should actually keep. It’s helped make Liam’s office neater, his filing cabinet less crammed so less papers have to sit on his desk, at least for now. 

So Liam doesn’t mind giving him a ride home, but he does worry about how Louis will handle it if he finds out that Liam had given him the ride, and that Liam has been interacting with his son so much. Harry says that Louis knows that he’s working in his office with him, and he knows that together they’re working on organizing some things, and even coming up with plans to bring in more business, like different sales and specials. But Harry also says that Louis doesn’t know that they’ve talked about their break up together and that Liam cried in front of him. According to Harry, he told his father that they do talk but it’s nothing about him, which is true… most of the time. 

Liam just doesn’t want to cause any harm, nor does he want Louis to take this action in the wrong way. He’s honestly just trying to help out. Harry had come into the security room while Liam was double-checking that the cameras were working before he left, and had asked for a ride home. He mentioned how his cast gets itchy underneath and his dad couldn’t do it, Caroline didn’t have a car anymore, and Nick was at his own job. And Liam’s not going to force him to walk home just because Louis asked him to stay out of his life. 

It’s not right, and Liam just wants to do the right thing. And the right thing, or so he keeps telling himself, is to take Harry home, only stopping to get Zayn. 

“Liam, can I ask you a question?” Harry asks and Liam glances over to see that Harry is looking at him, his bottom lip pulled into his mouth, chewing on it nervously. 

“Yeah, of course,” Liam says easily, wondering what the younger boy is wanting, and it’s not what he’s expecting, not like he had much in mind to begin with, but it’s just not something that he would think Harry would want to ask Liam. 

Harry clears his throat before he talks and says, “Nick, um, you remember him, right? The, um... He was the one in my room that time, do you remember? You kind of spilled your gay crisis on me after I yelled at my dad.” 

Liam thinks for a minute, trying to remember having a gay crisis in front of Harry, but then it clicks in his head, that night on the porch where he told Harry about his own quest to discover his sexuality. And he does remember seeing a tall, lanky boy rushing out of Louis’ house from Harry’s bedroom. “Yes, I remember him. I didn’t, um, have a chance to introduce myself to him, but I do remember seeing someone that night, I’m assuming that was Nick.” 

“Yeah, that was Nick. Um, well, I don’t know what all my dad has told you. I mean, he’s kind of a blabbermouth and doesn’t like to keep things to himself, so he tells everyone everything, but um, so Nick and I are kind of, you know. We’ll it’s like, we both like each other and stuff but I’m not ready for everyone to know that I, um, like boys and stuff, but he kind of asked me out on a date,” Harry explains, picking at his cast, looking at it while he talks instead of at Liam. 

“I’m assuming that’s a good thing. We’re happy about that, right?” Liam asks, frowning as he continues to weave through traffic. 

“Yeah,” Harry sighs out, lifting his head up to look ahead, his eyebrows pulled together. “But my dad won’t let me go out with him until he gets to meet him, but I’m kind of nervous about them meeting, like. I don’t know.” 

“Well, everyone is nervous even at my age, we still get nervous. If you hadn’t worked with me, your father would have been scared about us meeting. I was a little worried about Zayn meeting Louis and then meeting you and Niall. And I was nervous when I met Zayn’s mother’s parents. Oh god, I was terrified. It’s natural.” 

“Yeah. It’s just, like, I don’t mind my dad meeting Nick as my friend, but I don’t want him to meet him as anything more, you know? I’m just nervous. But Niall is bringing his little girlfriend over when it happens, so maybe that’ll be some of the pressure off me?” 

“I don’t know,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders as he slows down to a stop, arriving at Zayn’s daycare. “I think that Niall is young, he’s ten and from what I heard, she kind of just told him that she was his girlfriend, where as, you actually have feelings for Nick and he’s, I’m assuming, older than you. It’s a bit different, a lot different, actually, and unfortunately, your father is going to handle them in different ways.” 

“Yeah, I don’t know. I’m just worried about Nick. He’s kind of an idiot, but a good idiot.” 

“Your dad will probably hate him by default, you’re his son and that’s some boy that wants to take you out. It is kind of a Tomlinson thing to do, isn’t it?” Liam says, he’s joking, and he laughs when Harry looks up at him and rolls his eyes, a small smile playing at Harry’s lips as well. 

“Liam, if my dad tried to get back together with you, what would you do?” Harry questions, the smile completely erased from his face replaced with a look of concentration. 

“Do you want to know the truth?” Liam asks, watching as Harry nods his head. “I don’t know what I would do or if I would want to pick up where we left off or not. I guess it just depends. I’m not sure. Why?” 

Harry exhales and shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know, just a thought is all. No real reason, just wondering.”

Liam nods his head and takes a deep breath, turning to glance at the building along Harry’s side of the car, a smile spreading across his face. “I should get inside and get Zayn, I can see him peeking out of the window over there. He’s probably scared because I haven’t gotten out of the car. I’ll be right back and then we can get you home.” 

“Yeah all right,” Harry says, nodding his head and undoing his seat belt. 

“Are you coming in or something?” Liam asks as he steps out of the car. 

“No, but I’d rather sit in back with Zayn than sit by you,” Harry says, not unkindly or Liam thinks that it’s not unkindly, but he shrugs his shoulders anyway and climbs into the backseat as Liam heads inside to get his son.

~~~ 

“Dada, give Harry my picture?” Zayn asks in the middle of his conversation with Harry, the two of them chatting wildly in the back seat, Zayn having practically thrown himself out of Liam’s arms when he saw Harry sitting besides his car seat. 

“Your drawing? Yeah, I gave it to him the other day, just like I promised. Right, Harry?” Liam says, not bothering to look up at the two of them. It’s the first time that he’s been invited into the conversation and he knows that they’ll go back to ignoring him in a moment. 

“I really loved it,” Harry says. “I put it in my room. I taped it to the wall above my desk so I can see it when I’m studying. You should draw Niall something next, though. I think he was a little sad that he didn’t get one.” 

Liam snorts because the day after he gave Harry the drawing, he came into work and told Liam about how Niall had glared at the drawing until Harry had taken it to his room. Niall didn’t say anything about Zayn, just stared at the drawing with an odd sort of look in his eyes. 

“Oh,” Zayn says quietly and Liam glances up to see that he’s frowning, not having liked heard that he made Niall sad. “I draw for Niall.” 

“Good, that’d make him happy I bet,” Harry says, smiling at Zayn. His entire body is turned towards the child, his head resting against Zayn’s car seat as they talk to each other. 

“Harry, why you arm green?” Zayn asks. 

“Um, it’s uh… Liam?” Harry says. “I don’t know how to answer that.” 

“He’s got a boo boo, Zayn. He hurt the bone in his arm so he has to wear a special thing called a cast,” Liam says, knowing that Zayn will take a broken arm in a literal sense and not understand what it means. Zayn knows broken in reference to his toys when they’ve stopped working but he doesn’t understand or know broken in reference to people and body parts. 

“You can sign it,” Harry says and Liam glances in the mirror to see Harry shifting around before he pulls a permanent marker out of his pocket. 

“Sign?” Zayn says, taking the marker and looking at Harry in confusion. 

“Yeah, you can write on it or draw a picture. It doesn’t have much on it, but Niall drew on it first, he wanted to sign his name but then he put a drawing of a monkey on it. It’s actually pretty terrifying,” Harry mumbles under his breath. “But my friend Caroline just wrote her name and another friend drew a heart. Do you want to do something on it?”

“Okay,” Zayn says, pulling the cap off the marker and getting to work. 

It’s silent as Liam pulls onto Harry’s street, slowing down to accommodate the residential area. As they near Harry’s house, Liam can see that Louis is standing at the end of the driveway, rooting through the a stack of papers in his hands, probably the mail while Niall has his face shoved in the back of the car. 

“I didn’t think that he was going to be home,” Harry mumbles from the back. Liam nods his head but doesn’t say anything, his throat feeling a little tight as he watches Louis’ facial expression change when he sees that it’s Liam’s car pulling up in front of his house. 

“All done,” Zayn says, unaware to his father’s frozen nature and the way Harry is looking around nervously. “Harry?” 

“It’s pretty, thank you,” Harry says smiling at Zayn as he takes the marker back. “I didn’t know that you could write your name, well, that you could write the letter Z. You did a good job.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Um, I’ve got to go now,” Harry says. “Thanks for giving me a ride home, Liam. And I’ll see you later, Zayn.” Liam turns around and smiles at Harry, watching as he tries to give Zayn a hug through the car seat and with his cast in the way. It’s mostly Zayn’s arms wrapped around his neck but it’s enough to make Zayn smile as Harry pulls away and steps out of the car. “Bye,” he says again, waving awkwardly. 

“Hi Louis,” Zayn shouts before Harry can close the door, waving excitedly. 

Louis coughs lightly, clearing his throat before he smiles. “Hi Zayn.” 

Liam takes a moment to glance at Louis and then behind him, looking at Niall examining Harry’s cast so he doesn’t have to stare at the boy in front of him, anything to keep his eyes off of Louis. 

“Hey, that’s not really fair,” Liam hears Niall say. “How come Zayn got so much space on your cast?” 

“I don’t know,” Harry says, shrugging his shoulders. “You can draw something else on it, if you want.” 

“Did you have a good day, Zayn?” Louis asks, forcing Liam to tear his eyes away from Louis’ sons to look at him. 

Louis is purposely not looking at him, but he glances over every few seconds, his gaze flicking over to Liam briefly before he turns back to Zayn, smiling and nodding. He’s fidgeting, shifting around and he looks nervous, but he doesn’t say anything to Liam, just listens to Zayn tell his story about his day before he’s mumbling something about needing to get started on dinner. And then, the car door is being slammed shut and Liam sighs, turning to look at Zayn. 

“Ready to go home?” 

“No,” Zayn says, shaking his head. 

“Well, at least you’re honest,” Liam mutters before he turns around and drives off. 

~~~~~ 

Louis sits across from his kids at dinner, his mind racing and tuning him out from the conversation that his sons are having. He feels like he’s been on autopilot all night, helping Harry with his homework while also trying to navigate through cooking dinner and also giving Niall hints on how to his English homework, most of which revolved around repeating that Niall has to finish the book before he can do his book report, because guessing the end – which Niall’s guess was completely wrong – doesn’t mean that you’ve done the homework. He did it all without much thought, because his brain was occupied. 

He’s done an amazing job, or so he thinks, of keeping his personal thoughts about Liam out of his interactions with his children, which has been easy enough, because even on a good day, Harry and Niall are a handful. And keeping his personal thoughts about Liam and what happened away from his children has strengthened his relationship with them. Granted, Niall still says the occasional comment and Harry still gets angry about something and goes off, but they’re still kids and Louis wasn’t naïve enough to expect a one-eighty turn around in them. He likes that they’re willing enough to express themselves and the things that are important to them, even if sometimes it makes Louis feel exhausted. 

It just threw Louis off having to see Liam today. He wasn’t expecting to be forced to interact with him, nor was he expecting Harry to get a ride home from him. He avoided questioning his teenager about it; instead he just smiled at him and asked what Niall was drawing on his cast this time, even if he wanted to question Harry about what happened, wanted to get down to the bottom of it and ask why he didn’t just call Louis and ask if he would be able to pick him up. Louis didn’t mind that Liam gave Harry a ride, obviously his son had no other options and asked, but he just wished that he knew it was going to happen. He didn’t like feeling blindsided, like all the air had been knocked out of his lungs when he saw Liam avoiding his eye. It made his stomach clench in the most unpleasant of ways. He wanted to say something, anything, but he didn’t know what or if Liam would want to hear from him at all. 

Louis knows what he wants to do but not what he should be doing, and it makes him feel disoriented and bewildered. 

Louis is shaken from his thoughts when he hears Harry say, “Dad? Are you all right?” The words accompanied with Niall waving his hand in front of Louis’ face. 

“Yeah,” Louis says, shaking his head to clear it of his previous thoughts. “Sorry, just got lost in my own thoughts for a moment. What are we talking about?” 

“Nothing, you were staring at your plate for like, the last five minutes and we said your name about twenty times. You sure that you’re all right?” Niall questions, looking at Louis thoughtfully and when Louis nods, Niall seems to accept this information, shrugging his shoulders and going back to eating. 

“What were you thinking about?” Harry wonders aloud, looking at Louis thoughtfully. 

“What? Oh, nothing. I was just thinking. It wasn’t anything, just one of those moments where your mind wanders,” Louis says, taking a bite of his food. “What were you two talking about?”

“What were you thinking about?” Harry asks again and Louis sighs. 

“I don’t know, Harry. It’s not anything important. I’m just thinking about a lot of things really,” Louis says, glancing up from his plate to see that boy of his sons are looking at him, both of them with mirrored expressions of curiosity, and Louis knows that neither of them are going to give this up until they find out, because it’s not normal that Louis isn’t fully engaged in the conversation at meal time. “I’m thinking about Liam. I’m thinking about how he brought you home today and it’s the first time I’ve seen him since the hospital and I couldn’t say anything to him, just avoided him and listened to Zayn, who has no idea whatsoever that anything is awkward between Liam and I. Then that makes me think about how things are awkward between Liam and myself, which I don’t really want, but it’s there. And it’s definitely my fault, I know that, but I’m mostly I’m thinking about what I horrible mistake that I made and I’m just wondering how the two of you would feel if I were to start speaking to Liam again.” 

Niall and Harry share a look, a silent conversation between them before Niall says, “What do you mean by speak again?” 

“Like getting back together,” Louis mumbles, biting on his bottom lip for a brief second. “I mean, I’m just thinking about it but I haven’t even spoken to him and I don’t think he’ll want to talk to me, let alone be with me, so it’s probably just wishful thinking, but I don’t know. I’ve thought about it. Um, a lot, but I just want to your know thoughts. So, um, what do you two think?”


	36. Chapter 36

Louis lies in bed that night and stares at his blackened ceiling, at the vast expanse of nothingness that’s engulfing him while he should be sleeping. He wishes that his eyes could adjust to the light so he could focus in on something other than the hum of his ceiling fan that he can no longer see, only guess at where its precise location might be. 

He can’t sleep; his stomach feels twisted and knotted, too many emotions trying to fight their way out of him. And Louis wishes that it weren’t the middle of the night, a little after three, to be exact, so that he could find something to do to clear his mind. It had been easier when Harry and Niall were awake, he didn’t need to focus on the constant loop the anxious thoughts circulating throughout his body and mind. He wouldn’t have to focus on his own feelings about Liam. 

His nerves feel like they’re on fire, lit up inside of him, especially now that he has nothing to do to ease his mind. So he throws the blankets off his body, and gets up slowly, trying to be mindful of his sleeping sons as he pads down the hallway to the kitchen. He’s surprised when he finds a light on and sees Harry sitting at the table, looking sleeping with a glass of milk in hand. 

“Harry, isn’t it a little late? What are you still doing up?” Louis questions, glancing at his son briefly as he shuffles across the room. 

“I was talking to Nick on the phone,” Harry admits with a blush, smiling when Louis fixes him with a look across the room as he sets the kettle on the stove, flicking it on. 

“Bit late for a chat, isn’t it?”

Harry shrugs. “I guess, but we got off the phone an hour ago. I just can’t sleep,” Harry admits, taking a sip out of his glass. “What are you doing awake?” 

“I can’t sleep, either. I also got a bit bored in my bedroom, figured I’d come out here and make some tea, and then, if I still felt awake, watch a movie.”

Harry nods his head and goes back to drinking his milk, content on not answering. Louis busies himself with his tea, getting it ready and into a steaming hot mug before he shuffles into the living room, motioning with his hand for Harry to follow him. He drops down on the couch, the lights still off and reaches around blindly for the remote, it’s sitting on the end table, Niall having put it back in its place for once. 

The television is slowly coming on when Harry enters, sitting down next to Louis. He doesn’t have his glass of milk so he curls up on his side, watching blankly as Louis flips through the channels, trying to find something that’s not infomercials or late night discussions about whatever sporting game was on for the day. He finds a movie and turns it on. He’s never heard of it before, but it looks decent, or so he thinks. The main actor is cute, and that’s something. 

They watch in silence, Louis sipping his tea as he stares at the screen. It’s doing wonders for helping clear his mind, because the movie is some kind of thriller-action-drama hybrid that requires more usage of his mind that he really can offer at this time of night. But it’s nice and it’s exactly what Louis was missing in his bedroom, lying in the dark and attempting to focus on the twirl of his ceiling fan as the blades pushed air around the room. 

Louis finishes his tea and sets the mug down on the table, then grabs one of the blankets that were left lying on the armchair. He’s draping it over his and Harry’s body when Harry says, “I told Nick that he has to come over for dinner, by the way.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah, he said that he would, but he has to work up the nerve first,” Harry says, eyes still trained on the television. “I met his parents before we wanted to date, but he only met you that one time. I think he’s nervous.”

“Well, I’ll be happy to have him over whenever he’s ready.” 

“I’m also nervous about you both meeting, but Liam said that’s normal.” Harry says, his eyes slowly closing, his words a little slurred. 

Louis nods his head, recognizing the sign that his son is falling asleep. He really should force him back to bed, but he doesn’t want to wake Harry and have him be awake longer, so he lets him sleep and goes back to focusing on the movie. 

~~~ 

Louis is sitting outside of the grocery store in his car, his hands still wrapped around the wheel, staring ahead and trying to work up the courage to get out of the car. 

He’s been sitting here for twenty minutes, watching as people go in and out of the store, load up their cars and drive off. He’s watched people circle the parking lot hoping that a spot will open up so that they won’t have to park in the back. It’s don't absolutely nothing for his nerves, and he’s already finished the tea that he bought himself, the cup completely bare, not even a droplet left to help settle his nerves. 

Louis’ not worried about the conversation that could take with him and Liam, he’s not worried about the things that Liam might say or the way he’ll react to seeing and hearing from Louis. He’s not worried about that, because Liam is a good person, and despite it all, he’d never do something be contrived as rude or disrespectful. It’s none of that. Louis is worried about the end result of all of this, the fact that Liam might not want to try it again with him. He’s worried that Liam might not think he’s worthy of a second chance. 

That’s what has him worried, that’s what has him groaning and dropping his head forward, leaning it against the steering wheel for a moment before he takes a deep breath. He pulls the key out of the ignition and shoves it into his pocket as he pulls open the door and gets out of the car. 

It takes all of his will power to step through the automatic doors, but he does, stepping through the threshold and losing his breath when he sees Liam walking out of the security room at the same time. Louis has to keep walking can hear the person’s cart behind him, but he stops when he makes it halfway to Liam and waits, watching as Liam’s jaw flexes, his squint a little as he approaches Louis. 

Liam looks at him for a moment, rubbing his thumb along his jawline, making Louis bite his lip as he begins to feel his nerves lighting up, no longer feeling brave like he was. “Do you need something?”

“Yeah. We need to talk. Is that okay? Can we talk?” Louis asks, trying to keep from pleasing with Liam. 

Liam sighs but nods his head, motioning for Louis to follow him. He guides Louis to the back into his office and Louis sees first hand the projects that Harry has mentioned when he discusses work. He’s busy looking at the stacks of paper, the bin filled with some shredded remnants of documents and the boxes that have Harry’s handing writing on them, so he doesn’t notice Liam watching him with careful eyes until he turns around after Liam says, “What are you doing here Louis?” 

“I wanted to talk to you about a few things.” 

“About Harry?” Liam asks, leaning against the edge of his desk. “I’m not going to fire him, if that’s what you’re here about. I know that you didn’t want me around, but he deserves to have this job.”

“It’s not about Harry,” Louis replies, shaking his head. “I don’t really know what to say this is about, but it’s not about that. It’s about us, I guess.”

“You guess?” 

“Yeah,” Louis says, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean, it’s mostly about how I’m a horrible, horrible jack ass, but.” 

Liam looks at him for a moment before he sighs. “I can listen to that. So, how do you want to start this, because you showed up at my work and it seems you’re the one with something to say?”

“I know… I know. Um. Liam, I’m really sorry.” 

“For?” 

“For everything, really. I don’t know,” Louis says and he frowns, because he had no idea what to say before, but now that he’s standing in front of Liam, any semblance of an idea has been thrown out the window. So he takes a deep and starts with where he knows that he fucked up. “There was a lot wrong with our relationship in the beginning, mostly from my end of things. And I know that we’ve said it before, but we started going about it the wrong way, which was my fault entirely. And we’ve said it a million times, but I know that we could have fixed it and gotten my kids comfortable with you.” 

“I told you that your children never bothered me. Yeah, I wanted them to like me. Yeah, I knew it would take time. But they never bothered me.”

“I know. And they’re not what this is about. I didn’t want to talk about them, I just needed an opener,” Louis says, shrugging his shoulders. “I needed to start with that because after that you broke up with me, kind of. It hurt, but it didn’t feel like a break up, you know?” 

“Not like the day in the hospital did,” Liam mumbles and Louis looks at him and sees that he feels the same way about the two events, how when Liam ended things it felt more like a pause, a break from everything whereas what Louis did felt final, he was the one who stomped things into the ground. 

“Yeah, not like the day in the hospital.” Louis nods and takes a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have said anything that I said in the hospital. I really, really shouldn’t have done it.” 

“And why is that?” 

“I didn’t mean it,” Louis says, honest and open, the answer coming easily to him. “My son had just been in a car accident and I was blaming myself. Why else would a car hit my son, if it weren’t my fault? And the only thing I could think of that I had done wrong was be with you when he asked me not to.”

“So you blamed me?” Liam asks. 

“No. Not you, not fully. I blamed myself for being with you. I blamed myself for ignoring the issues that he and Niall had and not taking care of them or properly working through them. I blamed myself for being selfish and getting feelings for you and feeling them so strongly that I neglected to take care of the issues that were happening around me. I was selfish and I should have paid more attention to everything.”

“Being happy doesn’t make you selfish, Lou.” 

“It does when it’s at the expense of other people,” Louis corrects. “It’s selfish to promise your children time that you never give them. It's selfish to know that people are struggling to deal with a decision of mine that affects not just my life or your life, but my sons lives as well and to never find a compromise between it all. It’s selfish to tell you that you can’t be apart of my life when I know that you want to be in it and I want you in it, too. It’s selfish to tell you not to be apart of my life after you helped my son. And I’m sorry.” 

Liam nods his head slowly, biting on his bottom lip as he stares at Louis. It makes Louis skin squirm, his nerves tingle, because he can’t read Liam’s expression at all. He can’t even catch a hint of what he might be thinking. 

“I don’t know what to tell you. I feel like I’ve been really fair throughout this entire thing, but I don't know what to say at this point.”

“No, I know. You don’t have to say anything, I’d understand if you wanted to throw me out, I really would, but I needed to tell you that, because I really didn’t mean what I said in the hospital.” 

“You shouldn’t say things that you don’t mean,” Liam mutters, folding his arms over his chest. 

Louis huffs out a breath and tries not to groan, because not everyone in the world can be as wonderful as Liam and be wonderful boyfriends and say the things that they mean and tell the truth all the time. Louis really isn’t that great, not like Liam is, and it’s making this whole thing harder to know how lovely Liam has been and how absolutely horrible Louis has. 

“I just thought that, if bad things like this were happening, then maybe that meant I shouldn’t be allowed to be happy, you know? I felt like my being happy and my desires to want to be with you was taking my time and attention away from my kids, and Harry getting hit by a car was some kind of almighty power warning me to get my shit together and if I didn’t then what? Niall would be next,” Louis explains. “It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with my horrible, fucked-up logic. And I’m so, so sorry.” 

“You have talked to me, you know,” Liam says carefully, his eyes trained on the edge of the desk where he’s rubbing his thumb against the wood. “I would have listened to whatever you had to say. I would have tried to help you through it.” 

“I know you would have. You’re great like that. I’m just an idiot.”

“I also, know that I was the one who ended things before, and you’re right about it not feeling like a complete break up. I guess we both expected, or hoped, at least, to get back together at that point. But then you added the bit about me no longer being in your life and that hurt, it really did,” Liam finishes, looking at Louis now instead of the desk. “I know that I hurt you by ending things, but I never wanted you out of my life.” 

“Neither did I. I swear, not really anyway. No one wants you out of their life, Liam Payne.”

“If we do this,” Liam says, taking a deep breath. “If we do this again, then we have to do things differently. I don’t know why it’s happening, but Harry and I appear to be on a better path. I don’t want to ruin that. I don’t want to have taken thirty steps forward with him, only to take 50 steps back because we’re doing this again.” 

Louis eyes widen as he looks at Liam, because he’s implying that something will happen again, and that’s… Louis can’t handle it if this is a joke, but he’s not going to say anything to fight Liam on this, to question him. So instead he plays along and says, “We’ll talk to him. We’ll talk to Niall, and we’ll make sure that they’re included in this whole thing. Or well, how children are supposed to be included. Harry needed to understand that you’re not a horrible person, and it seems like he knows that now. He talks about you all the time.” 

“He does?” 

“Oh god, yes,” Louis says, nodding his head. “He’s constantly telling me about what you guys are doing at work, how the progress is coming in your office. And I know that he’s been talking to you about certain things, like about him and Nick. He’s really begun to trust you after the whole drinking thing.”

“Well, that’s good to know,” Liam says, smiling at Louis softly. “But we’ll also need to make sure that Niall finds a way to be comfortable around Zayn. Zayn’s too young to understand that Niall doesn’t like him, or didn’t. I’m not sure, I mean, things were fine at the hospital, but that doesn’t mean they’re fine now.”

“And we’ll make sure that Zayn gets time with Harry and Niall. I think that’s the only stipulation that he’ll have.”

“Hmm,” Liam hums, nodding his head carefully. “The Payne men don’t really come with rule books.” 

Louis snickers, grinning widely. “Well, I followed you around like a creep, should have clued you in that the Tomlinson men were a handful and a little out there.” 

“Yeah, I’d say you are,” Liam agrees, smiling. He’s close enough to Louis now that he can breathe in his cologne and the sweet scent that is purely Liam underneath it. Louis could cry from how badly he missed it, how badly he missed being this close to Liam. He wants to wrap his arms around him, hold on tightly and never let go, but he doesn’t, instead he waits. 

“Before I kiss you, because I’m going to kiss you, I need to make certain that you’re not going to break things off over something silly again. You’re going to talk to me, even if you think you can’t. And we’re going to make sure that discuss things with our children…well, your children, mine will probably agree with whatever Harry says,” Liam says, frowning for a moment, probably at the thought of Zayn choosing to agree with Harry over him, before he looks back at Louis, a serious expression on his face. 

“I promise. I swear on… Um, I’m not sure what to swear on, but I’ll swear on it. I promise I will.” 

Liam’s still smiling at him, his stupidly adorable face scrunched up, forcing Louis to smile back. 

“I really wanted to drag this out, wanted to make you work for it. For a minute I thought about making you think that I didn’t want anything, send you home and then surprise you in the morning, but I really did miss you, and I really want to kiss you.” 

“I’d really appreciate it if you did none of that and just kissed me,” Louis says, biting his lip. 

Liam mumbles, softer this time, bringing his hand up to brush his thumb against Louis’ jaw. “I can do that,” he says quietly before he leans forward to kiss Louis, soft and slow, and Louis’ stomach flips as he grips onto Liam. 

Liam pulls away first, pressing one last kiss to the corner of Louis’s mouth before he says, “We shouldn’t kiss at my job.” 

“You were supposed to kiss me in the middle of the produce section, actually” Louis teases, remembering the words he spoke to Liam after their first date. “You ruined it all, didn’t you?” 

“Oh shut it,” Liam mumbles before he’s kissing him again and Louis can’t help but sigh into it, his fingers curling around the fabric of Liam’s shirt.


	37. Chapter 37

“Why do you have to pick out an outfit just for Liam coming over?” Niall asks. “Why can’t you just grab something and put it on.” 

“Because,” Louis says, turning around to look at his son who is lying on his bed, propped on his elbow and looking at Louis expectantly. “I like looking good and dressing sharp on occasions like this.” 

“What kind of occasion is this?” 

“I don’t know,” Louis replies, shrugging his shoulders, turning briefly to grab a shirt to go with the jeans draped over his arm. “It’s just an occasion where Liam is going to come over and we’re going to talk. So I’d like to look nice. I love looking nice.”

“Actually, you love wearing pajamas. I’ve seen you in sweatpants four times this week,” Niall corrects, smiling when Louis fixes him with a look. 

“All right smart guy, go and get your brother for me, please. I want to talk to you two before Liam gets here.” 

“Okay,” Niall says, jumping from off the bed and running to the door, stopping and shouting: “Harry, dad wants to see you.”

“Thank you so much for that,” Louis mutters, tossing his clothes down on the bed. “I’d have never been able to scream his name like that.” 

Niall sighs and shakes his head. “I know, that’s why I did it for you.” 

Louis shakes his head as well, reaching out to poke Niall in the shoulder. He wants to make a comment about how sarcastic he’s getting, but he hopes that by not drawing attention to it Niall will knock it off. 

It won’t work, not even a little bit, but Louis wants to live in denial for a little while longer, at least until Niall’s a teenager, because by then Harry will be getting ready for college and, hopefully, his attitude will have died down a bit, or he’ll just have his attitude off at college. 

“What do you want?” Harry asks, and Louis turns to see that he’s trying his hardest to scratch underneath his cast. 

“Dad wants to talk about Liam,” Niall sings, leaning back against Louis’ bed. 

Harry stops scratching and looks up, nodding. He turns without a word and starts filtering through Louis’ closet to grab a shirt out and tosses it towards Louis. “Wear that.” 

“I already picked out an outfit,” Louis mutters, pointing towards the clothes on the bed. 

“Oh, then why did you need me?” Harry questions, looking confused. 

“I just want to talk to you about what to expect this afternoon. I mean, knowing Liam, he’ll want to repeat this all again to some degree, but I’d like to talk to you alone about this.” 

“What is there to talk about?” Niall asks, moving over to give Harry space on the bed to sit down. 

“Okay,” Louis starts, taking a deep breath. “I know that you both said you’re okay with Liam and I starting over with our relationship, but the two of us want to make sure that you’re comfortable with it.” 

“Wouldn’t have agreed if we weren’t,” Harry mumbles, back to scratching at the edge of his cast. 

“I know, but last time a lot of your wishes were ignored, so we want to find out what about our relationship you don’t want to deal with, at least around you, and the things that you’d like for us to keep in mind,” Louis explains. “This time around, we’d like to make sure that we don’t ignore things you’re asking of us.” 

“What does it matter what we think?” Niall asks, and he doesn’t sound bitter when he says, just curious, like he doesn’t understand why Louis would want their input in his relationship, even if they’ve been giving it to him since the start of it all. 

“Because you’re my kids and I love you both, and I’d really like this thing with Liam to work out,” Louis says, pausing to take another deep breath. “What I have with Liam is never going to work out if you two aren’t okay with it, so that’s why we’re talking to you. I don’t want to make mistakes with my relationship when it comes to you two.” 

~~~ 

Just like Louis thought he would, Liam repeats everything that Louis said, well almost, he doesn’t mention them being his kids and how he loves them, just the bits about wanting to make sure that everyone is happy. 

“Well, who is going to start this?” Niall asks, breaking the tense silence that’s been in the air for the last couple minutes. 

They’re sitting in Louis’ living room, him and Liam on the couch, Zayn on Liam’s lap while Harry and Niall stand on the other side of the room, watching them carefully, waiting for someone to do something. 

Louis wants to lean over and tell Liam to do it, poke him in the ribs until he caves, because Louis has no idea how to get this all started. He knows what his children want, but just not how to discuss it all. 

“Right,” Liam says, coughing, almost like he could sense that Louis was silently begging him to talk. “Before Harry had a problem with me being around, so we obviously want to figure out how to prevent that.” 

“And Niall had some issues with Zayn being around, which is another thing that we’d like to address, how we can work to make it better,” Louis adds, trying not to pull a face that let’s the entire room know how clever he thinks he is. 

“What about Zayn?” Niall asks, looking at Louis and then at Liam. “What does he have a problem with?” 

“Um, I don’t know,” Louis says, turning to look at Liam. “Liam?” 

“Zayn, do you have a problem?” Liam asks his son, moving so he can see Zayn’s face. 

Zayn shrugs and says, “I’m tired, Dada.” 

“Ah,” Louis says nodding. “And the solution is a nap. So that’s one thing down, now who should we address?” 

Harry sighs and rolls his eyes. “Give me the baby,” he says, stepping forward and pulling Zayn away from Liam, the little boy smiling. “He’s on our side with this, so you can’t have him right now.” 

Niall nods. “Yeah, kids against parents.” 

“Not against,” Liam says, rubbing his palms against his knees. 

“All right, I know you guys don’t want to rush this, but Niall and I want to watch this movie that’s coming on, so we’re going to have to get this thing going,” Harry says, pausing to shift Zayn around. “So you want to work on making sure we’re all happy, but you know, it’s not so much that about making us happy, is it?” 

“Well, yeah, because I like Liam and I’d like for you to like Liam, not in the same way, but in some way,” Louis mutters. 

Harry takes a deep breath and nods. “I’d like it if you spent more time here.” 

“Okay, that’s doable,” Liam says, nodding enthusiastically. 

Louis looks at his son and can tell from the way he’s looking at him that it’s not because he wants to spy on them and know what’s going on between them, but because Harry has always had an issue with Louis going out with men, always worrying about what might be happening to him or if he’d come back. He feels a pinch of guilt in his gut at the thought, so he nods his head. 

“Um, I mean, you can still go out, but like, it wouldn’t hurt to be here,” Harry adds. 

“Yeah, or like… Oh, I know,” Niall exclaims, grinning widely. “We could go out with you, too, like, you could take us all to the movies or something. We can all go to a fancy place and get dinner.” 

Louis bites his lip and nods, because it all sounds like something a proper family would do and it makes his stomach flip. “Okay, that works,” Louis agrees, knowing plans like that would help stop Niall from feeling left out. 

“And Zayn’s…he’s okay,” Niall says, shrugging his shoulders. “I can try to be nicer to him. I just, I’d like it if he didn’t…” Niall bites his lip and looks towards Harry. And the entire room knows that Niall’s silently saying that he’d like it if Zayn wouldn’t get the majority of Harry’s attention. 

Harry sighs and nods. “We’re watching a movie together,” Harry mumbles, stopping to glance at the time. “It starts in ten minutes.” 

“I’m just saying, Harry. Don’t be rude,” Niall mutters. 

“Okay,” Louis says, speaking loudly to stop Harry and Niall from bickering. Sometimes Louis thinks that Niall enjoys it when they fight, even if Harry is better at it. “Zayn can’t really change anything that he’s doing, he’s too young, but we’ll all be more conscious of each other and how we’re all feeling. And, I think it would be best if we all agreed to talk about our feelings more if something someone has done is bothering us, because, and I speak for the Tomlinson men on this one, we tend to be very vocal about what’s bothering us, but in very confrontational ways, so we should all work on that.”

It won’t work, but it’s a nice thought. 

“I’ll, um, try not to be so much of an ass to Liam,” Harry mumbles, looking at Liam. 

“Language, please,” Louis corrects. “But I know you will.” 

Harry shrugs. And Louis knows that he will, because ever since Liam picked him up drunk, something has changed in the way that the two of them interact, some sort of unspoken understanding and acceptance, where Harry accepts that Liam has feelings for Louis and that he’s not awful like the other boyfriends, something he mentioned knowing all along a few nights ago when Louis asked how they felt about them getting back together. He didn’t say he knew, but he said he had a feeling and that’s why he’s been so hard on Liam, because if he proved him wrong then it’d be his fault for not chasing him away sooner, and Harry just wanted to prevent anything bad from happening, but he also said that he didn’t realize Liam wasn’t completely horrible until he helped him after everything Harry put him through, and it was kind of a testament to Liam’s feelings for Louis that he’s able to ignore all the shit that Louis’ kids throw at him and that, even after a break up, he’s still willing to do things for not only Louis, but his kids as well. 

“It’ll be just like at work,” Liam says, trying his best to sound cheerful. 

“Yeah, but you won’t can’t tell me what to do here,” Harry mutters, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. 

“You just have to tell Dad and he’ll make Harry do it,” Niall adds, nodding his head seriously. “It works.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you, Niall.”

“The only thing I want to add is that, I really want to do this thing right, so if at any point you feel like I’m being neglectful towards you in any capacity, with my attention, my time, my anything, I want you to tell me. The whole point of this conversation is to find ways for this all to work out, so just remember that, please,” Louis begs, looking at both his children, waiting for them to nod. 

“All right, are we done here?” Harry asks, looking at Liam and then at Louis. “Our movie starts in two minutes and if we miss the beginning…” 

“No, um. I think we’re done. This was good. This was really good,” Liam mutters, smiling as he stands, grabbing Louis by the elbow and pulling him with him. “We’ll leave you alone in here to watch your movie.” 

“All right, everyone remember to behave in here. I’d hate to ground you all,” Louis teases, grinning. 

“Oh, god,” Harry groans at Louis horrible attempt at a joke - if you could even call it that – as he rolls his eyes. “Just get out.” 

Niall, who has shoved past Liam and Louis on the couch, turns up the volume, grinning at Louis in a silent way that lets him know the talking should stop. “Can you make us popcorn?” 

“Yeah,” Liam says, answering for Louis. “I’ll also put Zayn down for his nap, get him out your hair.” 

“No, Dada,” Zayn says, shoving at Liam’s hand and pushing back into the couch, content in his place between Niall and Harry. “I’m watch movie.” 

“Harry-“ 

“If he falls asleep, I’ll put a blanket on him,” Harry recites, staring at the television. “It’s a big couch, it’ll be fine.” 

“Right,” Liam says, nodding. “We’ll be in the other room.” 

~~~ 

“How do you think that went?” Louis asks, ripping open the bag of popcorn and tossing it in the microwave. “It went good. I think it went really well.” 

“Well, yeah,” Liam says, shrugging his shoulders. “It did, but I feel like there was a lot that we didn’t talk about. I don’t know; I just feel like we left a lot of things out.” 

“What things are you talking about?” 

Liam shrugs again. “I have no idea, I completely blanked and forgot everything that I wanted to say. I was practicing all morning with Zayn, he wasn’t paying attention but he’d tell me that I was doing good anyway.” 

Louis rolls his eyes and leans against the counter. “Well, whatever you forgot, we can address it later, if we need to. They’re okay with it now, they might still have some reservations, but I asked before I even went to see you the other day, and we had a long talk about it.” 

“I know you did,” Liam says, sighing. “I’m worried, Harry and I have been doing so well, like he talks to me all the time and about everything. I don’t think he realizes that he’s doing it, but he rambles about school and his grades, Nick and Caroline, how he knows that she has feelings for him but he has feelings for Nick and he feels bad, then he talks about his other friends. I have so much knowledge about high school affairs that it’s insane.” 

“Well, he takes after me,” Louis says, shrugging and pulling the popped popcorn out of the microwave. “Get me a bowl behind you, the green one.” 

“Yeah, all right,” Liam says, turning to do as Louis asked. 

“And anyway, we’re all a bunch of talkers in this family. He inherited that trait from me,” Louis explains, ignoring the fact that Harry was adopted and genetically speaking, he didn’t pick anything up from Louis, but he’s still his son, so he’s given him something just through raising him. 

Liam’s quiet as Louis pulls the popcorn into the bowl and he glances up to see Liam staring at his phone, typing away at his with his brows furrowed together. 

“Something the matter?” Louis asks because Liam is notorious for never checking his phone, especially when he’s in Louis’ house, so he knows that it’s something. 

Liam sighs. “I have to go to the store. God, what’s the point of a manager if I still have to solve everything?” 

Louis follows Liam through to the living room; setting the popcorn down in front of Zayn so everyone has access to it. The little boy smiles and digs his hand in, only pulling out a few pieces. 

“Can you watch Zayn? I don’t want to bring him and I don’t want-“ 

“Liam, it’s fine,” Louis says, cutting Liam off. “He’s happy, just go take care of whatever is going on.” 

“I’ll see you in a few,” Liam mutters, smiling and leaning forward to kiss Louis goodbye. “I’ll try not to be long.” 

“All right,” Louis mutters, kissing Liam once more. 

They’re interrupted by the sound of Niall’s voice saying, “That’s disgusting. Don't do that. Put that on the list.” 

“What list?” Harry asks. 

“The list of things we’re not allowed to do now that they’re boyfriends again.”

~~~~~~ 

When Liam gets back to Louis’ house, he uses the door without knocking, figuring that it’s okay since Louis has his son. He’s surprised when he sees Louis behind it, holding a finger over his mouth, signaling Liam to be quiet, and pointing over his shoulder with his other hand. 

“Look at them,” Louis whispers and Liam frowns for a moment before he steps around Louis to look into the living room. 

He can’t see much but when he takes a step closer, he sees Harry lying on his back with his arm thrown over his head, blanket wrapped around him as he sleeps, snoring. Niall and Zayn are on the floor, Zayn’s Power Ranger toys in their hands as they play with them, making noises and giving the dolls voices. 

His mouth drops open a little, surprised that the two of them are actually interacting with each other, not like it’s unheard of it, but the only time before that he got Niall to interact with Zayn was when Harry was in the hospital.

“They’ve been playing since you left,” Louis says, forcing Liam to break his gaze away from the pair. “I guess their movie wasn’t as good as they thought, because Harry feel asleep about a half hour ago, ten minutes before that Zayn crawled off the couch and got his toys, started playing by himself until Niall joined him. 

“That’s… kind of amazing,” Liam breathes, grinning. 

“They’re trying.” 

“I didn’t think it would happen so soon.” 

Louis shrugs. “He’ll probably hate Zayn a few more times, probably get upset when he steals all of Harry’s attention away, because it’ll happen, just like Harry will probably yell about you a couple times every now and then, but.” 

“I should talk Zayn into throwing a couple fits, shouldn’t I?” Liam teases, laughing when Louis scowls and him and pokes him in the stomach. 

“Ha, you’re so funny, Liam Payne,” Louis says, grabbing Liam’s hand and gently tugging him towards the kitchen. 

“Wait, what is Zayn wearing?” Liam asks, frowning when he catches sight of his son and the sweater that he’s wearing, royal blue with thin white stripes. 

“I made it for him,” Louis informs him, biting his lip as Liam looks at his son before turning to Louis with a smile. “You like it?” 

“I want one,” Liam pouts, forcing a grin out of Louis.


	38. Chapter 38

“Thanks for giving me a ride home.” 

Liam nods and waits for Harry to get his seat belt on before he starts the car. “I think now that I’m giving you a ride home from work every time you work, we can stop with the thank you’s,” Liam says, smiling and looking at Harry briefly. “Besides, you’re letting me date your father again, so I think we’re even.” 

Harry snorts. “That’s hardly the same thing.” 

“No, I suppose you’re right,” Liam agrees easily enough. “But it’s nice to know that everyone is okay with what’s happening in everyone’s lives, not just between me and your father, but like, with all of us.” Liam realizes, briefly, that the way he’s talking makes them sound more like a family than they actually are, but he doesn’t have time to dwell on that thought. 

Harry nods. “You know, I’m glad that my dad’s happy. And um, thinking about how Niall and I kind of gave the okay on this whole thing, how do you feel about, like, doing something for me?” 

Liam glances over and sees that Harry’s looking at him, worrying his bottom lip and looking hopeful. “I’d say it depends on what it is.” 

“Okay, well. Um, could you, like, come over tonight and not leave?” Harry questions, biting down hard on his bottom lip, his eyebrows pulled together. 

“Not leave?” 

“Well, like leave but not leave.” 

Liam nods. “Leave but not leave. Right,” Liam repeats, still nodding his head. “So you want me to come over and not leave but leave but not leave. Um, so you want me to like, come over and wait outside?”

Harry sighs and rolls his eyes, huffing out a breath and resting his head on the headrest, staring up at the roof of the car. “No, I just. Nick’s coming over tonight for dinner, and. I’m nervous.” 

“So where do I come in with my leaving but not leaving?” 

“You just, I don’t know,” Harry says, shrugging. “If you’re there then like, my dad can’t like focus on him too much. He can give you some attention. I don’t know.” 

“Harry, are you asking me to join you four at dinner?” Liam inquires, because he still doesn’t really understanding what Harry is asking and how he’s supposed to not leave but leave but not leave. 

“Technically, it’s us six, but yes.”

“Us six?” 

“Niall will be there and he’s invited Jade, so yeah, six.” 

Liam nods, chewing on his bottom lip. “I can do that, if you really want me there. We’ll have to stop by my mom’s and get Zayn. You can stay in the car; you don’t have to meet her. I’m sure she’d love to meet you, I’ve mentioned you a time or two, but no. You stay in the car and I’ll run in real quick and get him.” 

“No, no,” Harry says, shaking his head adamantly. “My dad can’t know that I invited you, that’s why you’re leaving but not really leaving.” 

“All right, Harry, you’re going to have to break this down for me because I’m a little confused at this point. How am I going to be there if your dad can’t know and if I’m leaving?” 

Harry rolls his eyes. “I don’t want my dad to know that I invited you, right? So like, you’re going to drop me off at my house and then later, after you get Zayn and I don’t know, go home and get changed or something, then you show up at my house.” 

“And what do I say when your dad asks why I’m there?”

“You just tell him that you wanted to see him or something,” Harry replies, shrugging. “I don’t know, it’s not like my dad is going to kick you out of the house. Just linger, refuse to leave. Don’t let him toss you out, but also, don’t tell him that I invited you. I want him to think it’s just some coincidence.” 

“Harry, I don’t feel comfortable lying to your father about things. I’ll go, of course I will, but if he asks, I don’t want to lie.”

“It’s not lying, though,” Harry says. “My dad isn’t going to say ‘Oh, Liam, thank god you’re here, did Harry invite you?’ No, he’s not going to. Do you want to see him?” 

“Well, yeah, of course, but like-“ 

“No. See, you want to see him, so it’s not lying. If he asks if I invited you and you say no, that’s lying, but otherwise you’re just being honest.”

“Harry, I don’t know,” Liam says, biting down on his bottom lip. The last time he omitted the truth even for a few hours, Louis was angry, more than angry, and Liam doesn’t want to have to deal with that anymore or ever again. 

“Liam, can you please just do this one thing for me?” Harry asks, his eyes pleading. “I know you don’t want to lie to my dad, but I just don’t want him to know that I invited you. If you’re there, then it’ll be like a buffer, because Nick’s and idiot and my dad’s my dad and if something happens, we need a buffer.” 

Liam sighs and nods his head, unable to deny the teenager sitting next to him. It doesn’t feel wrong, nor does it fee like a mistake, so Liam figures that it’ll be all right. He’s not omitting the truth, he’s just leaving out a tiny detail, which, okay. That’s kind of omitting the truth, but he doesn’t want to ruin this budding relationship that he has going with Harry, so he simply nods his head. “All right, I’ll drop you off and then I’ll get Zayn. I’m still not comfortable just popping in, but you’re right, I know your father and I know that he won’t exactly shun me, or anything, so yeah. I’ll be there, promise.”

Harry breathes a sigh of relief and visibly relaxes into the passenger seat. 

~~~~~ 

“Harry, what time did you say Nick was going to be here?” Louis asks, glancing towards the table where both of his son’s are doing their homework, well, Harry’s homework. 

His son glances up at him, annoyance written across his features, because Louis has asked this question a few times, but he can’t remember. “He said seven, but he’s coming from work, so he might be a few minutes late if he goes home to change clothes.” 

“Late meeting the parent, interesting,” Louis mumbles, tapping his fingers against the counter. “Well, dinner will be ready a little after seven, if he’s not here, then we’re starting without him.” 

“No, we’re not.” 

Louis shrugs his shoulders. “I guess we’ll have to see.” 

“Dad,” Harry sighs out in frustration. “I told you that he’s leaving from work, it’s not like he’s just taking his sweet time. You’re the one who decided seven.” 

“Jade’s going to be on time,” Niall says, interrupting the pair of them. “Her mom is bringing her.” 

“And that’s why she’s going to be on time, her mom still takes her everywhere,” Harry mutters, rolling his eyes. “I don’t even understand why she’s coming tonight.” 

“Because Harry, you’re the idiot that wanted his boyfriend to meet Dad, so that means my girlfriend has to meet him, too. Tonight’s not just about you,” Niall defends, closing Harry’s textbook and sliding it across the table. Niall makes a face and their arguing is interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. “I’ll get it,” Niall shouts, rushing out of his chair and towards the door. 

“That’s probably Jade,” Louis says, lifting the lid off one of the pots on the stove, checking dinner. “Harry, please be nice to her. No, scratch that. Be nice to your brother.” 

“Be nice to Nick,” Harry counters and he’s craning his neck to try and see who is at the door, so he misses the way that Louis rolls his eyes when he drops the lid down on the pot. Louis continues on fiddling with the food on the stove and in the oven, unaware to his surroundings until he hears Harry say, “Liam, what are you doing here?” 

Louis turns, surprise written across his face. “Yes, what are you doing here?” 

Liam’s grinning at him, passing a tired looking Zayn over to Harry. “Zayn and I were missing our favorite family, so we thought that we’d surprise you.” Liam leans down to kiss him in greeting and Louis accepts it, but he’s still not sure what to think of Liam coming over tonight. “Oh, this smells good. What are you making?” 

“A roast,” Louis answers, watching as Liam checks under all the lids on the stove. He wants to roll his eyes but it’s oddly endearing to watch, as Liam tastes all the food, like he’s the one cooking it. 

“Did you make it for me?” Liam asks, winking. 

“You’re not that special,” Harry mutters from across the room and both of them turn to look at the teenager in unison, who flinches and sighs. “Sorry. Um, it’s for Nick.” 

“Nick?” Liam asks. 

“Yes, the boyfriend,” Louis answers, turning away from Harry to make an annoyed face. “He’s apparently going to be late, so if you’re joining us for dinner then you’re going to have to wait a minute.” 

Harry groans. “Oh, my god.” 

“Yes, hopefully your god will bring your boyfriend here a little quicker, because the vegetables are done and there is only so long that I can continue to keep them on the stove before they start to taste like crap.”

“I’ll go text him,” Harry mumbles, standing up. “Zayn, come on.” 

“Okay,” Zayn says, rushing off after Harry. 

Louis watches Liam, who is waiting for the two to leave the room. “You seem on edge,” Liam mumbles, looking at Louis with a concerned expression on his face. “Care to explain?” 

Louis sighs, because he doesn’t know why he feels like his skin is crawling. He had honestly been fine with the thought of Nick coming over until about an hour ago when he realized that his little baby had a boyfriend and he’d be meeting him. Everything had honestly been okay until that point. He had made sure that Harry brought home everything they needed from the grocery store for their dinner that he had stayed up late to plan, rattling off his ideas to Louis until Louis had almost drag his son to bed. 

“My son has a boyfriend,” Louis says as way of an answer, hoping that Liam understands. He has a son, he should, although the lucky bastard has several years to go before his son is finding a boy or girl to date. 

Liam smiles at him, reaching up to brush some of the hair out of his eyes. “Sounds like you and Harry have another thing in common?” Louis raises an eyebrow and Liam’s grin widens. “Well, Harry doesn’t like you dating and it doesn’t seem like you appreciate him dating.” 

“Just another thing that us Tomlinson men have in common,” Louis says, leaning forward to hug Liam. 

“You’d hardly know he was adopted.”

Louis snorts and laughs when Liam pinches his side. “Where’s Niall?” Louis asks, looking around the room. “He hasn’t made an appearance since he let you in?” 

“Oh,” Liam says, realization washing over his face. “There was a little girl on your porch with us, and I think they’re in the living room together.” 

Louis sighs and rubs his hands across his face, because honestly. “That child,” he mutters. “Keep an eye on the meat, I need to go introduce myself. I’ve never properly met her before, not like I’m going to shake her hand, but you know. It seems like I should at least go in there and say hello.” 

~~~ 

Jade’s nice enough, from what Louis can tell. She’s quiet, sitting on the couch next to Niall in a yellow dress that reaches below her knees with a teal sweater on. She doesn’t say much to Louis when he introduces himself, but when Harry walks in the room with Zayn in tow, her eyes light up and she sits up a little straighter. 

“Nick said he’s going to be here any minute,” Harry says, smiling at Jade briefly. “So, like, you can move the stuff out of the stove.”

“Texting while driving,” Louis says, sniffing. “Well, what a catch.” 

“Dad,” Harry starts, but Liam is there to cut him off by saying, “Harry, could you help me set the table?”

“Yeah,” Harry mumbles, glaring at Louis before he stomps off towards the kitchen. Liam gives Louis a look, one that tells him that he needs to back off a little and Louis sighs, dropping down on the couch. 

“Was that your brother?” Jade asks and Louis turns to look at her, watching as she talks with Niall. 

“Yeah, why?” Niall questions. 

Jade smiles, a blush creeping up on her cheeks. “He was cute.” 

Niall huffs out a laugh, rolling his eyes. “You’re weird, Jade.” 

“Who is Nick?” She asks, ignoring Niall’s comment. 

“His boyfriend, he’s coming over here for dinner.” 

“Obviously,” Jade says, flicking a piece of her hair out of her face. “I don’t like this show, turn it off.” 

“Okay,” Niall says, flipping through the channels until she tells him to stop. Louis wants to laugh at it all, wants to ask if this is how they always are when they’re together, but he doesn’t, instead the door bell rings and he grins wickedly, ready to jump up and answer the door but Harry is rushing out of the kitchen. 

“Don’t you dare,” Harry mumbles as he’s rushing towards the door. He stops and takes a deep breath before he pulls it open. 

Louis remembers Nick vaguely, not as much as he remembers the situation that he met Nick in, so his memory of him is fuzzy. He’s wearing a simple pair of skinny jeans and a black tee with his hair standing up in a mess that’s probably supposed to be some kind of style. He’s tall, and Louis feels a bite of annoyance knowing that the teenager is definitely taller than him. 

Harry’s eyes light up when he sees Nick, though and that eats away at some of the negative emotions that Louis is feeling. He might not like the fact that this boy has experimented with his son, but he appears to make Harry happy, so that’s something, he suspects. 

“Is this your dad?” Nick asks, looking at Louis. Both Harry and Louis nod. “Right, I thought I remembered, but wasn’t sure. I’m Nick,” he says, smiling briefly. 

“Harry, hold me,” says Zayn, breaking up Louis’ response. Zayn’s standing in front of Harry with his arms raised, ignoring Nick and the way that he’s standing between the pair of them, making it impossible for them to stand too closer together. Good, Louis thinks. 

“Is this your brother?” Nick asks, pointing towards Zayn. 

Niall’s gaze hardens his smile vanishing until Harry says, “No, he is.” He points over towards Niall, who is grinning again at the fact that Harry corrected Nick. “This is Zayn.”

“Ah, you hardly look like a Niall,” Nick says and Zayn shoves his face into Harry’s shoulder, completely turning away from Nick. 

~~~~~ 

Liam can hear everyone moving from the living room to the table as he grabs the final bits of food and carries it into the other room. He had to drag a chair in from the kitchen, not enough room for all of them. He glances around the table, sees that Louis is sitting next to Niall who is sitting next to Jade. On Louis’ other side is Zayn and then Harry and Nick, which forces Liam to sit down between the only two people that he doesn’t know in the slightest. 

“Is that your step dad?” Nick asks Harry, but it’s loud and Liam kind of stills before he slowly drops down in his chair, his gaze flicking up towards Louis who is holding a bowl full of potatoes, staring at Nick. 

“Yeah,” Harry answers, reaching across Zayn to grab the bowl from Louis. “That’s Liam.”

Liam wonders briefly if he registers what Nick’s question actually was or if just knew that he was talking about Liam so he answered without thought. Either way, Nick nods and smiles at him before taking the bowl from Harry. 

“What’s a step dad?” Niall questions, turning to look at Liam and Liam nearly drops his glass of water on the floor. 

“It’s like, when your parents aren’t together anymore so they find someone new and they come to live with you,” Jade explains. 

“Oh,” Niall says, nodding his head. “Then Liam’s only like, kind of our step dad. He doesn’t live here.” 

Jade shrugs her shoulders. 

“So Nick,” Louis says loudly from across the room. “Harry says that you were late because of work. Where do you work?”

“The music store downtown, it’s kind of far away and I had to ask to get off early tonight, usually I don’t get home until around nine or so.” 

“Downtown?” Louis asks, frowning a disapproving way. Liam glances up from his own plate, ready to eat when he remembers that he hasn’t gotten up to cut up Zayn’s food, but when he glances up he sees that Louis is taking care of it for him, not like Zayn’s paying attention, his son is too busy staring at Harry while he stares at Nick. 

“Yeah, my mom hates it, but my dad and I talked her into it.” 

“Nick wants to work in radio when he graduates,” Harry says, turning to look at Louis. 

Louis nods. “It’s good that you know what you want to do so early in your high school career. Harry here can’t seem to make up his mind, but we’re not worried about that. He’ll figure it out.” 

“No, um. I’m a senior. I’m graduating this year,” Nick says. 

Liam watches as Louis’ eyes flash with something and he wishes that they were sitting next to each other so he could grip onto his thigh, let him know that it’s not something work commenting on, but he’s not there, and Louis being Louis has to say something. 

“Well, Harry neglected to mention how old you were.” 

“Jade’s eleven,” Niall says and Liam wants to ruffle his hair because Niall is always unaware to tension at the best of times, like now. “She’s older than me.” 

“Not by much,” Jade says, scowling at him. “I’ve just had a birthday is all, we’re in the same grade.” 

“That’s good,” Liam says when he realizes that no one else is going to answer them. Harry and Louis seem to be arguing silently over Zayn’s head while he eats his dinner, blissfully unaware of what’s going on around him. “Jade, what do you like to do after school? I know that Niall takes soccer practice but what about you?” 

“I take dance classes,” Jade answers. 

“She likes to sing, too,” Niall adds around a mouthful of food. 

“It’s really not that much older,” Nick says. 

“Yeah, it’s not that much older,” Harry copies, still staring at Louis. 

“No, I think that it’s quite a bit older,” Louis comments. 

“Wow, singing. Do you take lessons for that?” Liam asks, trying to tune out the conversation at the end of the table. He breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that Zayn is crawling out of his chair and rushing to Liam. 

He’s lifting his son onto his lap when Jade answers, “No, but my mom said that I could if I wanted.” 

“Yeah? Do you sing well?” Liam asks over the sound of Harry’s voice. 

“She’s okay,” Niall says followed be an ‘ow’ when Jade hits him on the arm. “I was only kidding, why did you hit me?” 

“Because you’re being a jerk,” Jade says and Liam sighs when she and Niall begin to argue about if he was telling the truth or not. He leans back in his seat and runs his fingers through Zayn’s hair, rubbing his back gently and wishing that he possessed his son’s ability to fall asleep whenever as he watches his son’s eyes slip closed.


	39. Chapter 39

“Dada is going into work late this morning, so you get to spend time with me before you go to Nana’s,” Liam says, helping pull a shirt over Zayn’s head when it gets stuck. “Do you know what you want to do?” 

Zayn looks at him for a moment, a slow smile spreading across his face. “I know, Dada.” 

“You do? Well, what do you have in mind?” 

“Go for a walk,” Zayn says, his eyes lighting up as he says it. 

“Yeah? Do you want to ride in the stroller while Dada goes for a run? We haven’t done that with you awake in a while.” 

“No,” Zayn says, shaking his head. He crawls back up onto his bed, grabs his Power Ranger dolls and slowly starts handing them to Liam before he jumps down. He grabs onto Liam’s hand and guides him through the house, out of his bedroom to the stairs. He stops at the top, checking with Liam briefly that it’s okay to walk down them before he walks, one foot then the other until they’re at the very bottom. “We walk.” 

Liam finds out what he means when a few short minutes later when they’re standing outside, Zayn checking to make sure that Liam buckled his dolls in the stroller safely before he nods in satisfaction. He grips onto Liam’s hand so that Liam is only able to use one to push the stroller and they begin their walk, careful to make sure that the Power Rangers aren’t bouncing around too much on the uneven pavement. 

“This is a lovely idea, Zayn,” Liam says, smiling at a woman that’s giving him this look. He doesn’t want to try to read into it, because Louis used to give him that look right before he started popping around the grocery store everyday and he’s not. He doesn’t need someone else trying it on him. He has Louis and that look also gave him Harry and Niall, somehow. “Baby, did you have fun at dinner last night?” 

“Yes, Dada, but lots of yells,” Zayn says, shaking his head. “So loud.” 

“Yeah, they are pretty loud, huh?”

“Yes.” 

“Did it scare you when everyone was yelling?” Liam asks, wishing that he could carry Zayn so that he could see his face instead of just the side of it. “Is that why you ran to me?” 

“No, I’m tired,” Zayn says, tilting his head up so he’s squinting at Liam. “I’m tired and everyone loud.”

“You should have told them,” Liam says, but it’s a poor bit of advice because Zayn wouldn’t have been able to get a word in, but he thinks that Harry would have listened to Zayn, would have bit his tongue from arguing with Louis until after Zayn had been put to bed. And Louis would as well, although he probably would have mumbled things quietly under his breath, smiling at the table as he ate his food. Niall, Liam’s not sure what he would have done; probably laugh because the way that Zayn’s always tired has always been amusing to him.

It’s strange to think about, the way that their lives have molded together since…since probably Harry’s accident, how they’re. Liam doesn’t want to think the word family, but flashes of the word step dad keep looping through his mind and now it’s the only word that he can think of. Two fathers with separate children, separate houses, separate parenting methods, but somehow, it feels like they’re all slowly beginning to click together in a way that seemed impossible before. 

“Zayn, how would you feel about Harry and Niall becoming your brothers?” He asks, knowing full well that Zayn hasn’t the slightest idea of what a brother is and how that all works. 

“Okay, Dada,” Zayn agrees easily, grinning widely, happy to agree to anything involving his two favorite people. 

“Well, let’s keep this conversation between you and I, okay?” 

“And Power Ranger.” 

“Ah, yes. Of course, and the Power Rangers,” Liam says, nodding. He glances up to see the woman from before jogging past them again. He sighs, because he can’t be that interesting. 

~~~ 

“How was the dinner last night?” Liam’s mother asks him after he says his proper goodbye to Zayn, but before he makes it out of her house, and he sighs at the question, because dinner was.

“Dinner was interesting,” says Liam as an answer, smiling at his mom. “I’ll be by to pick Zayn up probably sooner than normal, I’m not really feeling work today.” 

His mom looks at him, fixes him with a look that says she’s not satisfied at all with an answer like that. “Liam James, tell me how dinner went last night.” 

Liam sighs again. “It was interesting, they’re an interesting bunch of people and it went about as well as any introduction goes for significant others in that family.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“It means that Louis absolutely hates Harry’s boyfriend, found out he’s a couple years older than him, getting ready to graduate, so naturally, they spent the entire meal arguing with each other,” Liam says, trying not to grimace at the memory. 

“Well, at least you know that it’s not just you who has a rough start with them, darling.” 

“No, that’s true.” 

“What about the younger one? What’s his name again? I can never remember it when I tell your father these stories,” she says, shaking her head. 

Liam tries not to roll his eyes; because of course his mother would use this as a bit of gossip, she’s probably told all her friends about it as well. “Niall. His name is Niall, and he was fine. He brought a girl over, Jade. She was a typical eleven year old girl, she had a crush on Harry the second she saw him and I don’t know, she and Niall ended up arguing because Niall’s a typical ten year old boy and he’s slightly oblivious at times.” 

His mother clicks her tongue and shakes her head. “That’s to be expected at that age, nothing wrong with it.” 

“No, of course not.” 

“Anyway, how was my Zayn? You know he hates arguing like that, was he all right?” 

Liam shrugs. “He was perfectly fine, feel asleep at the dinner table and didn’t pay them any attention.” 

“That’s why he’s my favorite,” his mom says, biting back a smile.

“Shouldn’t I be your favorite?” 

“No,” she answers, shaking her head adamantly. She shrugs unapologetically when Liam looks at her scandalized, because a mother shouldn’t tell their child that he’s not her favorite, but then again, she’s now a grandmother and he’s heard theories that’s when your parents move on to grandchildren and wanting nothing to with you. He sighs because it must be true. “The rest of the night went well, though, right?” 

“Surprisingly,” Liam says, nodding. 

She looks at him, her eyebrows pulled together, like she’s scanning him for information. “What aren’t you telling me?” 

Liam sighs. “Nick, Harry’s boyfriend, called me their step-dad and Harry didn’t correct him, just said yeah that’s Liam.” 

“Oh,” she mutters, her eyebrows shooting up comically. “Well.” 

“Niall asked what a step-dad was, Jade explained it, and he just sort of nodded and agreed that’s what my role has been.” Liam looks at his mom carefully, hoping that somehow she has an answer that’ll explain this, because he’s really not sure how he’s supposed to be handling this entire thing. “A few weeks ago they hated me, now they’re ready for me to adopt them. Or something.” 

“When are you going to let me meet them?” She asks curiously, her head tilting to the side. 

“Mom.” 

“What?” I’m only asking is all, if they think you’re their stepfather then they should meet me. I’m your mother, after all.”

“I’m going to work,” Liam says, leaning forward to kiss her cheek. “I’ll be by later to get my son.” 

“Yeah all right, but think about it, okay? I’ll add it to my calendar,” she calls out to him and Liam shakes his head, because she was absolutely no help whatsoever to the conversation that’s been taking place in his head about what this all means. 

~~~ 

“You’re late,” Harry says and his voice startles Liam, causing him to jump. He wasn’t expecting to find anyone in his office, especially not sitting behind his desk. 

“I am, yes,” Liam says, nodding and making his way across the room so he can put his jacket on the back of his chair behind Harry. “You’re also early.”

“I am, yes,” Harry replies, copying Liam’s previous statement. “I didn’t want to be at home so I lied to my dad and said my shift started earlier.” 

“Did you clock in?” 

“Yeah,” Harry says, biting his lip. “Sorry.” 

“Well, you’ll be clocking out early then, you know that, right?” Harry sighs and nods his head. “Well, as long as you know that.” 

“Thank you for coming to dinner last night, I don’t think it really helped anything, but thanks.” 

“I promised you that’d I’d be there, so.” 

Harry sighs. “Did you think Nick was awful?” 

“No,” Liam says carefully, shaking his head. “I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to him but he seemed all right, he was trying in any event. It probably wasn’t easy meeting everyone at once, there were a lot of people there last night, and I thought he seemed all right, from what little he got to say about himself.” Liam wants to say, he thought I was your stepfather, but if Harry missed that slip last night he doesn’t want to remind him of it today. 

“My dad hates him.” 

“Your father doesn’t hate him,” Liam says and Harry glances up at him, fixing him with an unimpressed look. “Okay, so he’s not thrilled about him, but it’s not him. It’s his age.”

“Do you think his age is a problem?” 

“Harry, I don’t want to say anything that could affect my relationship with you or your father, so I’d like to not answer that.” 

Harry rolls his eyes and sighs. “Liam, pretend that you’re not dating my father and I’m asking as a random employee, do you think that Nick being a senior is a problem?” 

Liam sighs, because he knows Harry and he knows that Harry isn’t going to give up until he gets an answer, even if it’s not the one that he wants to hear. He’s never going to be left alone if he doesn’t answer. “No, I don’t think that’s too old for you,” and when Harry smiles he tacks on, “But I’m not your father, so my opinion doesn’t really mean much.” 

“Right, right, but like. I mean, if you think that maybe you could talk to my dad,” Harry says, shrugging easily. “You don’t have to tell him what to do, but couldn’t you just like, I don’t know…talk to him?”

“Harry, I don’t want to overstep my boundaries here. I know that I’d hate for you father to tell me what to do with Zayn, and I’m sure he’d feel the same way if I told him how to handle you and Niall.” 

“You’re not going to tell him what to do, though. You’re just going to gently guide him in the direction of understanding, that’s not forcing him to do anything,” Harry says, shaking his head, his curls bouncing with the movement. 

Liam nods his head, wishing that he had the ability to sit down at his desk so he could rest his head against the wood, but Harry isn’t showing any signs of wanting to get up any time soon. Louis is absolutely going to hate him if he interferes in someway, but Harry’s looking at him, his eyes pleading with Liam and he’s honestly torn on what to do. “I’ll tell you what,” Liam says carefully, taking a deep breath. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to take your dad out tonight, just the two of us.” 

Harry looks at him, his eyes narrowing for a moment as he looks at him before he shakes himself from it and mutters quietly, “okay.” 

“If you’re not comfortable with it that’s fine, no one is going to do anything to upset you, Niall or Zayn. No one, so tell me, but if it’s okay with you, I’d like to spend some time with him alone.” 

“And you’ll talk to him about Nick?” 

“Yeah, I will,” Liam agrees, sighing. 

“Okay, yeah. You can take my dad out tonight, that’s fine,” Harry mumbles. “But like, just promise that you’re not going to I don’t know… I don’t know. I don’t know.” 

“Right, well whatever you don't know I promise not to do that.” 

“Good,” Harry mutters, grabbing a pen off Liam’s desk so he can begin scribbling doodles down on his notepad. He doesn’t say anything, even though he’s been using that particular sheet of paper to write down notes for a new contract that’s in the works with a supplier, but it’s not a big deal. He can still have his notes with little doodles scribbled along the edge of the paper. “Just don’t forget to talk to my dad, okay?”

“Would it stop you from seeing Nick if your dad says you can’t?” Liam asks, looking at Harry with an eyebrow raised. 

“Did it stop you from seeing my dad when I said that I didn’t want you two to date?” Harry counters, not unkindly but more matter of fact, like he’s making a valid point, which he is, but only to a certain extent. 

“Touché,” Liam admits, nodding his head. “But Harry, would it stop you?” 

“No, but I’d rather that he didn’t hate him. I don’t want to lie to him or pretend that I’m going somewhere when I’m really going to Nick’s, it’d just be easier if he could like him,” Harry says. 

Liam sighs and rubs at his face, wondering at what point this became his life. “I’ll talk to him, I promise. I can’t guarantee any results, but I’ll try.” 

Harry grins at him, one of the happiest smiles that he’s ever directed at Liam in a while. “Good. Thank you. Now, can you hand me that box of papers? I need to finish shredding them?” 

“And you’re going to do it sitting at my desk?” Liam asks, sliding the box over towards Harry. 

“Yeah,” Harry says, nodding and grabbing a bunch of papers. 

Liam makes a note to remember that he needs to tell the other employees to stay out of his office for the day, he doesn’t want the rest of them to see Harry using his desk like it’s his own. He needs to try and maintain a level of professionalism with the hired help, the ones that don’t think of him as their stepfather at least. He sighs, because he really needs to talk to Louis. 

~~~ 

“Liam Payne, you sure do know how to treat a man,” Louis says, tilting his head to grin at Liam as he pushes in his chair. Liam shakes his head at him, leans down quickly to press a kiss to his cheek before he takes his own seat at the other end of the table. 

“It’s just a restaurant, Lou,” Liam mutters, smiling at the hostess as he hands them their menus. “I’m glad you’re happy with my choice, Harry helped pick it out.” 

Louis raises an eyebrow. “My son? My Harry helped pick out a restaurant? Did he know that you were choosing it for us?” 

“We were bored at work, I guess shredding paper can only keep a teenager’s attention for so long before they start begging you to let them do something else, so I asked him to help me find a place.” 

“That’s amazing,” Louis says, cracking open his menu. “Who would have thought we’d see the day.” 

Liam nods along and goes to scan his own menu, mulling over the selections. They both read in silence, ready to order when their waiter stops at the table and greets them. As he’s walking away with the menus, Liam’s eyes follow him and glance towards the door where a couple has walked in, he stares at them for a moment, wondering why the woman in the dress looks so familiar.

“Oh, god,” Liam groans, trying to shield his face with his hands. He smiles at Louis when he makes a face at him, his eyebrows pulled together and a laugh threatening to spill from his lips. 

“Liam Payne, what are you doing?” Louis asks. 

“This morning Zayn and I went for a walk and this woman kept jogging past us, normally I’d assuming it was chance, you know, she passed us one way and then passed us on the way home, but she just. She was always there.”

“Mhm, and what does that have to do with now?” 

“She’s over there,” Liam whispers, cupping both of his hands on the right side of his face, refusing to even glance towards the other side of the room. “I think she’s following me.” 

Louis’ mouth drops open and he looks scandalized. “I have competition!” 

“Hardly,” Liam says, rolling his eyes. “Is she sat down?” 

“I don’t even know what she looks like,” Louis says, his eyes narrowed as he scans the crowd. 

“She’s wearing the green dress. She’s with a blond man, I think. I mean, he was standing behind her,” Liam says, opening a little crack in his fingers. 

“Ah, well, she’s attractive,” Louis says. He frowns a little as he says it, sits up a little straighter and brushes at his shirt like he’s trying to clean it, wanting to look a little better. He already looks amazing. 

“But I’m happy, so that’ll never work out.”

“Good because it’s bad enough that I’ve found out she’s the second woman today that I have to fight away from you,” Louis says, taking a careful sip of his drink. He smiles around the rim of the glass when Liam raises an eyebrow at him. “Jade told Niall that she thought you were cute.”

“Oh, god,” Liam groans, shaking his head, forcing a laugh out of Louis. “She’s eleven.” 

“And you’re the cutest boy in the world,” Louis says, grinning. “Besides my sons, but you’re a different cute.”

Liam laughs and shakes his head, takes a drink of water to try and help fight the blush that’s spreading across his cheeks. He sets the glass down carefully and figures that now is as good a time as any to bring up Nick and Harry. “You know,” Liam says carefully, wishing he had a straw to spin around in his glass for a distraction. “I was thinking about last night earlier, how did you feel about Jade and Nick?” 

“Jade seems fine, seems like a normal eleven year old girl. To be honest, I don’t really know how she and Niall get along, she seems like she’s probably got some fight in her,” Louis says, smiling fondly. He sighs and shakes his head immediately after though, his smile turning into a frown. 

“What’s wrong?” 

Louis sighs. “I don’t think that I paid them enough attention as I should have, like he invited her over and I should have just…I don’t know. I should have paid more attention.” 

“I don’t think Niall minds, the situations are different for him and Harry. He did it to make Harry feel better, not because he was set on you meeting her. Besides, the situations are different. Harry has a boyfriend and he’s at the age where this could progress somewhere, like a moving in together after Harry graduates thing not...that,” Liam adds when Louis fixes him with a look, a single eyebrow raised. “It’s different when from when you’re ten and thinking a girl is cute means you have a girlfriend.” 

“Yeah, but I should have been equal with my attention.” 

“Well, you did seem a little more interested in the fact that Nick was older, I suppose, but you didn’t neglect Niall.” 

“Oh, god,” Louis says, groaning and rolling his eyes. “Don’t remind me of that. I still, just. What does he want with a child?” 

“He’s still a child, Lou.” 

“No, he’s not. He’s eighteen and I could report him, if I wanted to.” 

“You’re not going to report him.” 

“Yeah? And what makes you think that?” Louis asks, his gaze hard over the brim of his glass as he takes a pull of the liquid inside of it. “I could and I wouldn’t feel bad about it.”

“I think you would, love,” Liam says. “You really would.” Louis looks at him, and he’s trying his hardest to look firm, like he really wouldn’t, Liam thinks, but he knows that’s not true. “Harry would be heartbroken if you did that, and you’d never break his heart.” 

“No, I suppose not,” Louis replies, shrugging and refusing to meet Liam’s eye. 

“I understand your… feelings on the matter, but Harry seems to really like him. And I think you know how difficult, frustrating, and upsetting it is to date someone that the people you care about most doesn’t like.” 

“God, you’re annoying,” Louis says, fidgeting with his napkin. 

“Because I’m right?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Louis says but he’s smiling and it might not be the conversation that Harry had anticipated Liam having with Louis, but Liam knows that he got through to him, knows that even if Louis is a rotten monster to Nick, he won’t try to stop them from seeing each other. Not like he really could, they do go to school together, Liam thinks. “God, since when were you on Harry’s side?”

“I’m not anyone’s side,” Liam reasons. “I’m just…We wouldn’t be out tonight if it wasn’t for him, and Niall too, I suppose, but if he can’t passed whatever issues that he has with us, don’t you think that you could do that for him? I mean, Harry’s really trying. He’s been like, beyond nice lately, and I just. I owe him this, you know?” 

Louis nods and shrugs, like he gets it, and Liam knows that he does, because he was placed in the same situation as Liam, except maybe a little worse since it was his kids that weren’t okay with it all. “I get it,” Louis says, a slow grin spreading across his features, “stepfather.”

“Oh, thank god,” Liam groans, his entire body sagging in relief, because finally. Finally someone else is willing to talk to him about what was said and he doesn’t have to think of a way to bring it up because. “You have no idea how much I’ve thought about that all day, I told my mother about it.” 

“You told your mother?” Liam nods. “What did she say?”

“She wants to meet them, you as well, I assume, but she wants to meet them. I think, well, I think she feels like she’s going to have new grandchildren, and my mom is… My mom is one of those mothers that was just born to be a grandmother, she even said she likes Zayn more than me.” 

“Well, we all do, Liam. Honestly,” Louis says, rolling his eyes. “Can’t believe you made me miss movie night.” 

“Ha, you’re so funny,” Liam says, crinkling his nose up and pulling a face. 

“I am, I know,” Louis says easily enough, grinning. Liam smiles back but it’s not as big, and Louis sighs at him. “I think it’s great.” 

“I went from public enemy number one to being thought about as a stepfather. How does that even work? Did you ask Harry about it?” 

“No,” Louis says, shaking his head. “I have no intention of it either, and neither should you. No, don’t give me that look. It was a battle with him, nearly a war with him about this relationship and if he wants to see you that way, then good. If him liking you means that he has to understand this as you being a stepfather then okay. It doesn’t mean that you are. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

Liam nods. “I guess you’re right,” he says, sighing, but it doesn’t feel like Louis is right. It feels like. Well, it feels like something he wants and he can’t understand because it’s all so soon. He hasn’t been with Louis long enough to want that, and doesn’t know him well enough to take on some kind of responsibility for his children. But, if Liam’s being honest with himself, that hasn’t stopped Louis or Harry or Niall from shifting some of the responsibility on him. It’s not bad; Liam doesn’t mind it, even if sometimes he doesn’t understand. It’s just. Maybe he wants it to mean something, mean more than what it really does to Louis. 

~~~ 

Later, after dinner, when Liam pulls into his driveway instead of Louis’, he watches as confusion spreads across Louis’ face, frowning slightly. “I don’t think we left the children here. I…Well, I might be wrong here, but I honestly don’t believe that we left them here.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Liam says, getting out of the car and moving quickly to open Louis’. 

“Liam?” 

“The kids are all at your house, probably sleeping, but I’ve got a house.” 

“That’s an interesting observation, yes.”

“I’ve got a house that doesn’t have three kids it and I’d like to have sex with you,” Liam says bluntly, blushing a little when Louis’ eyes widen. “If you want to,” he adds an afterthought, realizing that his first statement might have sounded an awful lot like a demand.

“It’s like I don’t even know who you are anymore, Liam Payne,” Louis says and it might worry Liam, but he’s grinning and he jumps up quickly to kiss Liam, a little more tongue than strictly necessary for being pressed up his car in the front of his house. He has neighbors for Christ’s sake. Louis pulls away and the grin is still on his face, like he wasn’t just kissing Liam. “I say that we head inside.” 

“I’d say that’s a fair idea,” Liam says, reaching behind Louis to shut the car door and grabbing his hand, leading him towards the house. 

Louis is shameless in his actions, practically groping him when he pauses to unlock his front door. And when he does, they’re spilling inside, tripping over each other and shedding each other of their clothing as the stumble to Liam’s bedroom. It’s not how he imagined it when he came up with the idea, but it’s been ages since they’ve done this and he couldn’t be damned that there’s a trail of clothing leading from his front door to the edge of his bed, not when he’s got Louis crowding into his space and fucking him slow and with a purpose.


	40. Chapter 40

“Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?” Louis asks, peeking his head inside his son’s bedroom. He’s lying on his stomach, head hanging off the side of the bed and bobbing to the beat of the music. He lifts his head up slowly, his cheeks stained pink and nods, getting up slowly and following Louis out of the room and into the living room. 

“Am I about to get in trouble?” Harry asks, rounding the back of the couch and sitting down. “I can’t think of anything that I’ve done, but just in case, it wasn’t my fault.” 

Louis scoffs and shakes his head, laughing under his breath. “No, it’s nothing like that, although I am curious what you conscious is hiding.” 

Harry shrugs. “Nothing, more than likely.” 

“Mhm,” Louis says, nodding. “Well, in that case, I guess it’s the right time to tell you that I want to talk about Nick.” 

“Oh god,” Harry groans, rolling his eyes at Louis. “I don’t want to listen to it, okay? He’s not that much older, it’s just a few grades, and you’re just being…like, you didn’t even get to know him, you just found out that he’s graduating and ignored everything else that he had to say.” 

“You’re right, I did do that.” 

Harry falters, opening and closing his mouth. “I’m right?” 

“To an extent, yes, but not entirely.” 

“What am I right about?” 

“Well, you’re right that he’s not much older than you. It’s older than I’d like, but I’d rather that you’d have meet now while you’re both in the same school instead of some college freshman preying on the local high school.” 

“Nick’s not going to college,” Harry interrupts and Louis has to take a deep breath, forces himself to count backwards from ten, because honestly, it’s not his business if he’s not going to school. That’s burden that his parents can take on, because Louis has two kids of his own to worry about, two college educations that he has to consider. And besides, it’s not like Nick is thirty-five and he’ll be supporting Harry, Louis can handle an eighteen year old trying to find his way through an alternate path. It’s admirable, usually…mostly when said eighteen year old isn’t dating his son. 

“Of course he isn’t, because he’s going into radio, or he’s going to try?” 

“Yeah, I don’t know what the first step is, probably making coffee?” Harry asks, shrugging. “Making coffee is usually the first step to any career, according to the movies at least.” 

Louis nods, biting back a sarcastic comment, because a lot of occupations do start off with making coffee and answering phones. “Um, anyway, I got thinking last night and this morning, and you’re right, it’s not that much older, and I’d rather you see Nick when I know about it instead of behind my back.” 

“So what does that mean?” Harry asks carefully, a hopeful look on his face. 

“It means that you can date, or whatever with Nick.”

“And like, you’re not going to freak out and scream about him?” 

“Not unless he fucks up, then I’ll probably scream a bit,” Louis says, shrugging when Harry looks at him. “I’m allowed to scream then.” 

“What made you change your mind?” 

“Last night, when Liam and I were out at dinner, he mentioned our dinner with Nick and we said a couple things that made me think.” 

“Liam did?” 

“Yeah, he did, and it made me realize that I wasn’t being fair. I was being a little too…motherly. And a little too protective and wanting you to be a teeny little baby your whole life, wouldn’t that be great?” 

Harry pulls a face, his features contorting in disgust. “That’s, um…” Harry’s eyes widen for a moment before he shakes his head, forcing a laugh out of Louis. “That’s weird, but I’m glad that Liam was cool enough to say that.” 

“Yeah, that was pretty nice of him,” Louis says, smiling. His smile drops, however, when he sees that Harry’s looking at him, biting on his bottom lip. When their eyes connect, Harry snaps his attention to the point beyond Louis’ shoulder. “What are you hiding?” 

“I’m not hiding anything.”

“Yes you are, you’re hiding something. What is it?” 

Harry sighs. “I just, I asked Liam to talk to you about Nick. He did it because I asked him to.” 

“Oh, my god,” Louis groans, shaking his head. “Harry, why would you do that?”   
“Because you wouldn’t listen to me. You’d listen to Liam; I knew that you would, even if I said the same thing.” 

“You don’t know that.” Harry raises an eyebrow at him as if to say ‘are you serious?’ and Louis sighs. “All right, well no more going to Liam behind my back about things.”

Harry grins at him and stands up, nodding his head as he rushes out of the room. 

“Harry, I’m being serious.” 

“I can’t hear you, Dad,” Harry shouts from down the hall and Louis shakes his head, because at some point that child is going to be the death of him, honestly. 

“I haven’t asked Liam for anything.” 

Louis jumps, his hand flying up to cover his heart as he looks over his shoulder at Niall. “You scared me, how long have you been there?” 

“I was in the kitchen listening to you and Harry from in the kitchen,” Niall replies, grinning as he rests his arms on the back of the couch. 

Louis raises an eyebrow at his son, doing his best to look annoyed. “You know that you’re not supposed to do that.” 

“I only heard the end, the part where Harry said that he asked Liam to talk to you, that’s why I said that I haven’t asked Liam for anything.”

“That’s good,” Louis replies, nodding. “What would you even ask him for anyway?” 

Niall shrugs. “A new bike, probably.”

~~~ 

Liam and Zayn show up a few hours later, Power Rangers in Zayn’s hand and bags of groceries in Liam’s. 

“What is this?” Louis asks, following Liam to the kitchen where he drops the bags down on the table. “Did you plan on making dinner? Or, why do you have groceries? Are we holding them for you?” 

“No,” Liam says, laughing. “They’re for you.” 

“For me? Did you think that we needed groceries?” Louis asks, confused, because he’s not sure when Liam had time to root through his cabinets and fridge, when he could have known that Louis may or may not have needed certain items from the store. Louis glances into the bag, pulling out a bag of chips that he definitely, definitely doesn’t know how Liam knows is a Tomlinson favorite. 

“Well, I mean, everyone needs groceries, but I didn’t get this because I was trying to imply anything, if that’s what you’re saying,” Liam replies, grinning. “No, I got these because your boys called me.” 

“My boys?” Louis asks, confused. 

“Yeah, Harry and Niall.” 

“No, no,” Louis replies, shaking his head. “I know who you’re talking about, I’m just confused. Why did they call you? When did they call you?” 

“A couple hours ago, I guess,” Liam replies, shrugging. “Ask them.” He points behind Louis and Louis turns to find his children, both of them grinning at him. Zayn’s in Harry’s arms and he smiles, too, tilting his head at Louis. 

“What did I tell you about calling Liam to ask him for things?” 

“I didn’t ask for a bike,” Niall answers, like it’s fair to demand chips and ice cream, various other snacks and apparently, if Louis can see correctly, some kind of dinner dish, judging by the random bits of vegetables. 

“Technically, you said that after we called Liam, so it doesn’t really count,” Harry replies, smiling at Louis once last time before he slowly backs out of the room. “Niall, get the sodas too, I’ve got Zayn.” 

“See ya, Dad,” Niall calls before he rushes out of the room. 

“I should get Zayn some juice, I don’t want him to have any soda,” Liam says, completely ignoring the fact that Louis just mentioned that his children aren’t allowed to ask for things behind his back. It’s not that Louis doesn’t want them to reach out to Liam, they just don’t want him taken advantage of, his kindness and desire to make them happy about his presence in their life driving him to buy them something outrageous. 

It’s groceries today, but tomorrow it’s Harry’s first car. And Liam, despite what Harry and Niall apparently think, is not their stepfather. He has no obligation to spend any money on them whatsoever. 

“You’re worried about Harry giving Zayn soda? Were you not listening to what I was saying to them?”

“Yeah,” Liam shrugs, stepping past Louis to put food in the fridge. “You told them not to ask me for things, they smiled, never said they understood, and then left. What about it?” 

“I don’t know,” Louis replies, shrugging because he’s honestly not sure why he wants to know if Liam understands. He just does. “Does it bother you that they’re constantly asking you for things.” 

“Not really, no,” Liam reasons. “I figure that everyone who’s in a relationship with someone that has kids, it kind of just…you know, is a thing. It’s a process, you know? Like they’re growing to like me, and this is just part of that process. They test me, try to push my boundaries and so far, despite the many things that they’ve asked, none of it has been unreasonable, so why say no?” 

Louis shakes his head, because Liam really is just… He’s too good of a person, far too understanding and caring. Louis opens his mouth to reply but he’s startled by the sound of loud music from down the hall, one of Harry’s CDs that he likes to play penetrating the once quiet air. “Well, it sounds like they’re having fun in there.” 

“Should we check on them?” Liam asks, biting his lip. “Maybe we should check on them. That’s kind of loud, don’t you think that’s loud?” 

“Yeah and Harry is fifteen, that’s how they listen to music,” Louis reasons, shrugging. “And I don’t think we should check on them, I think that we should enjoy a few quiet moments alone.” 

Liam looks at him and Louis steps closer, grinning devilishly as he steps closer to Liam, pressing him back against the counter. 

“Harry will kill us both if he walks in right now,” Liam says, placing his hands down on Louis’ hips. 

“You were choking,” Louis says, smiling as he presses up on his toes to kiss Liam. He sighs into it, leaning against Liam and just enjoying the moment, it’d be perfect if it wasn’t for Harry’s music in the background, just the two of them alone while their kids hang out in the other room. 

“Are you two serious? That’s disgusting!”

Louis pulls away laughing, stepping away from Liam to turn and see Niall standing at the entrance of the kitchen. 

“Hello, Niall,” Louis says, grinning. “Can I help you?” 

“You’re disgusting,” Niall spits out, pretending to gag. “I thought we put that on the list of things you’re not allowed to do anymore.”

“You cheated and asked Liam to bring you something, so I cheated a little bit,” Louis reasons, shrugging. 

“Gross,” Niall sighs, shaking himself, like he’s trying to rid himself of the disgusting feeling. Louis chances a glance towards Liam, sees the blush on his cheeks. He winks at him, grinning. “Anyway, I came out to tell you that you have to come see Zayn.”

“Is he all right?” Liam asks, straightening up immediately. 

“Just come look,” Niall says, motioning for Liam and Louis to follow him. 

They both, rushing down the hall to get to Harry’s bedroom, worried that something might have happened to Zayn, but when they get there, they find Harry lying on his stomach on his bedroom, Niall jumps up to join him. When Louis spots Zayn, he’s a few feet away from the bed, his little arms up in the air as he bounces up and down to the music, grinning at Liam and Louis. 

“Dada, I’m dancing,” Zayn calls, bobbing his head to the beat to accompany the rest of his moves. 

“You are,” Liam says in response, smiling at his son. “You’re doing an amazing job, bub.” 

~~~

Louis sighs as he leans back against the couch; content to just sit for a minute after a long day of spending time with his kids, Liam and Zayn. They’ve not done much, most laze around the house, but for some reason it’s days like today that leave Louis feeling most exhausted. The ones where you do nothing but somehow still manage to feel tired, which doesn’t make a lick of sense, but it still doesn’t stop it from being true. 

He’s got his feet propped up in Liam’s lap, the two of them sitting together in a comfortable silence watching a movie. Zayn had been with them, until he had run off to find Harry and Niall, the two of them locked in Harry’s bedroom doing god knows what. Louis had allowed the door to be shut, figured that it’s all right when they’re together, so it’s blocked his view, despite the curiosity clawing away at him.

“What do you want to do for dinner?” Louis asks, tearing his eyes away from the television to look at Liam. 

“Am I staying?” Liam replies, raising an eyebrow. “Or no, I’m sorry, that sounds like I don’t want to. I mean do you want me to stay?” 

“Well, if we’re being honest here, then I’d like for you to stay the entire night, if that’s all right with you.”

“That’s more than all right,” Liam agrees, squeezing Louis’ ankle. 

“What’s more than all right?” 

Louis sits up on his elbows, peeks over the couch to see Niall, Harry and Zayn entering the living room. Niall wastes no time in sitting on top of Louis’ thighs, leaving Zayn and Harry to the chair. 

“Liam was just agreeing that pizza sounded like the best idea for dinner,” Louis says, nodding when Niall grins. 

“I’m starved,” Harry mumbles. 

“I bet you are, all you guys did was snack,” Liam says, shaking his head. “I should have hid the groceries until after you ate.” 

“No you shouldn’t have,” Niall says. 

“I want pizza,” Zayn says, interrupting them all. Louis tilts his body around to look at him and grins at him. 

“Liam, your son has spoken. Be a babe and order us a pizza,” Louis orders, nudging Liam with his foot. 

“First I bring the groceries and now I’m ordering the pizza, anything else you guys want?” Liam jokes, shoving Louis’ legs off him as he stands. 

“Yeah, see if they have some kind of dessert,” Harry says. 

“Oh, those cinnamon things with icing, those are the best,” Niall adds. 

~~~ 

“Haven’t heard from the boys in a while,” Louis says, long after they’ve finished their pizza and movie. It was actually as soon as the food was gone that the kids disappeared again, once again back into Harry’s room. “It’s getting late.”

“Yeah, I really need to put Zayn to bed,” Liam mutters around a yawn. “It’s not like it matters, he’ll sleep in to make up for going to bed late, but he already sleeps later than he should.” 

“Sounds like you could some sleep of your own, Liam Payne,” Louis grins, grabbing Liam’s hand and pulling him off the couch with a groan. “Let’s go see what those monsters are up to, been locked in that room all day, probably conspiring against us.”

“My little angels corrupt your son? Ha,” Louis scoffs, turning to smile at Liam as they reach Harry’s bedroom door. He knocks on it lightly, alerting them of his presence before he pushes the door open. 

He had prepared himself for something, anything honestly, but not the sight of all three boys fast asleep in Harry’s bed. Niall curled up at the bottom while Zayn and Harry lie at the top. 

“They’re sleeping,” Liam whispers, a hint of disbelief to his tone. “I don’t. I don’t understand, they’re sleeping.” 

“I told you that my precious angels wouldn’t corrupt your son,” Louis says, smug. He nudges Liam in the shoulder, winking at him before he grabs one of Harry’s extra blankets and tosses it over Niall’s body, the only one of them uncovered by a blanket. “I wonder how long they’ve been in asleep.” 

“Who knows,” Liam mutters, shutting off the light and closing the door once Louis is out of the room. “Let’s follow their lead and go to sleep, I’m exchausted.”

“You’re exhausted?” 

“God, yes,” Liam groans, dropping down onto Louis’ bed. “Let’s sleep in tomorrow.” 

“That’s a shame that you’re tired,” Louis says, feigning sadness. “I was hoping that you’d want to take a shower or something, the kids are asleep and we could do loads of things in the shower.” Liam sits up at that, looking at Louis intently. “But since you’re too tired, I guess we’ll sleep.” Louis fake yawns, tugging his shirt off his body. 

Liam groans, getting up off the bed and grabbing Louis by the wrist, dragging him into the joint bathroom. 

“I thought you were exhausted?” 

“I am, but something a little more interesting than sleep came up,” Liam mumbles, starting the shower. “I hope, for the sake of your children and for the sake our own embarrassment, that you can be quiet.” 

“Oh I can be a lot of things,” Louis mumbles, stepping out of his pants.


	41. Chapter 41

Someone’s tugging at the blankets, trying their hardest to get Liam to stop using them. He groans, releases his grip on them. 

“Louis, stop pulling on the blankets,” he mumbles, sighing and rubbing his face against the pillow, ready to sleep some more, not interested in opening his eyes and finding out who it is. 

“Dada.” 

The sound of Zayn’s voice forces him into wake, his eyes snapping open to see that it’s Zayn pulling on the blankets, not Louis. He’s not interested in being awake, not for any reason other than Zayn. He can be awake for him. 

“Hey, buddy,” he says, smiling, rubbing at his face, and kicking off the blankets, mindful of Louis, who groans and tugs on them, wrapping himself around them in an impossible knot of duvet. “Do you want to lie down with me?” 

“I’m not tired, Dada,” Zayn says, shaking his head. 

“Well, isn’t that a first, my sleepy boy,” Liam mutters, lifting Zayn up off the ground when he gets out of bed, heading towards the kitchen. “Did you sleep okay in Harry’s room?” 

“I was cold, Dada.” 

“You were cold?” Liam repeats, frowning. He made sure that all three of them were properly covered before he went to sleep, unless Harry is like his father in other ways and also enjoys taking blankets at night. 

“I didn’t have Power Ranger,” Zayn explains, nodding. 

“Oh,” Liam mumbles, like it’s supposed to make sense. “Next time I’ll make sure to put them in bed with you. In the mean time, do you want some breakfast?”

Zayn looks at him, his eyebrows furrowed together and his lips in a pout while he thinks, trying to think of something he wants to eat. “Eggs,” Zayn says, pointing to the fridge. 

“I can make that,” Liam says, nodding. “I can if Louis has some, if not then we’ll have to make something.” 

Luckily enough, Louis has eggs in his fridge, which shouldn’t be surprising to Liam, he’s always had an abundance of groceries in his house, and Liam thought that he remembered seeing some when he was putting away some of the things that he picked up the night before. 

He sets Zayn down on the ground, watches as he runs off – probably in search of his Power Rangers – before he starts rummaging through Louis’ cabinets for everything that he’ll need. 

“Dada, up,” Zayn says, holding his arms in the air, and Liam doesn’t think about it, just picks Zayn up and shifts him around on his left side so that his right hand is free to crack the eggs open and pour a little milk in a bowl before he starts whisking. It’s a difficult task, making eggs while holding his son, but it’s not impossible. Maybe it would be for someone that doesn’t struggle with waking their kid up every morning. 

Liam’s dropping the eggs in the pan when he hears someone shuffling behind him and then the sound of Harry’s voice asking, “What are you making?” 

“Oh, um. Good morning,” Liam mutters. 

“Hi, Harry,” Zayn mumbles, pressing his forehead against Liam’s neck, like he’s all of a sudden bashful around Harry, like Harry hasn’t become one of his most favorite people. 

“Zayn wanted eggs, so I’m making him some,” Liam explains. 

“Dada, I want down,” Zayn says, squirming. Liam obliges, setting him down on the ground and going back to his eggs, shifting so he can look towards the table where Harry is slumped over in a chair, body draped across the table. 

“Make me some,” Harry says, his voice rough. “Hey, Zayn.” He lifts himself up briefly, grabbing the young boy and setting him down in his lap before he drops back down on the table, mumbling something into the grain of the wood about how tired he is. 

“Thanks for letting Zayn sleep in your bed last night,” Liam says, moving around to get more eggs ready for Harry. 

Harry grumbles something, waves a hand in Liam’s direction but overall doesn’t say anything. Liam laughs, shaking his head. 

“Oh hey, eggs! I want some,” says Niall, who isn’t shy about peeking around Liam’s elbow to take a glance at what he’s doing. 

“Eggs for everyone,” Liam mumbles, cracking open a few more. It’s the least he can do, he figures, because Liam was able to spend the night last night and neither of them has given him any slack for that. They haven’t made rude comments, just asked for breakfast, and if it means that Liam is able to enjoy a morning without a lecture from a teenager or a pre-teen, then he’ll make all the eggs in the world, or at least all the eggs in the Tomlinson household. 

He’s passing out plates when Louis finally comes stumbling out of the bedroom, looking amused at the sight of everyone sitting around the table as Liam sets plates down in front of them. 

“Well, what a happy little family,” Louis comments, grinning at them. No one corrects him, even if Liam holds his breath for a moment, waiting for an outburst. 

~~~ 

“How long does it take for someone to get their cast taken off?” Niall asks, looking at Liam thoughtfully, kicking the ball in the air and catching it, stopping his actions. 

They’re outside, Niall, Zayn and Liam, the three of them trying to stay occupied while Louis takes Harry to get his cast off. Harry had forgotten about the appointment, asked if he could go over to Nick’s house when Louis told him that he could do that or get his cast off. It left Liam to watch Niall, which was fine, Niall didn’t seem to mind, and it meant thtat Liam got to enjoy some time outside for a change, which was fine by him. 

“I’m not sure, actually,” Liam replies, shrugging. “I don’t think it takes long, I’m sure the waiting will take the longest.” 

Niall nods, dropping the ball down on the ground, stopping it from bouncing with his foot. “Does Zayn know how to play?” He motions towards the ball and Liam frowns, because Zayn knows what to do with a ball, but he doesn't know if Zayn is old enough to actively know how to play sport. 

“I don’t think he does, no,” Liam says, shaking his head, watching as Zayn arranges his dolls out in the grass, setting them down gently. “He likes kicking the ball around, though.” 

“Do you think that I could teach him?” Niall asks, looking at Liam thoughtfully. “It’s kind of important, you know. Everyone should know and I could show him if you wanted me to.” 

“Yeah,” Liam agrees, nodding and smiling at Niall. He can’t think of anything better, not really. “Just go easy on him, he’s a lot younger than you and he might not be able to keep up.” 

“I’ll just teach him how to score a goal,” Niall reasons, turning from Liam. 

He watches as Niall approaches Zayn, crouching down to his height and pointing towards the ball near Liam’s feet. Liam can’t hear what he’s saying but Zayn is nodding, grinning, and rushing to gather up his Power Rangers. He drops them off with Liam before he’s chasing after Niall towards the other end of the yard, where Niall is pointing to two trees. 

It’s not much of lesson, per say, but Niall is making a show of diving for the balls that Zayn kicks, purposely missing them while Zayn laughs. And Liam is so grateful, not only because Niall is being fair and not turning it into a competition, but because he’s making Zayn feel important, like when Zayn stands between the trees, Niall makes sure to kick soft and directly at Zayn’s feet. 

It’s a sight to say the least, and Liam can hear Zayn screaming his name, trying to tell him every time that he scores against Niall. 

As Liam watches them, he’s reminded once again how odd of a situation their in. Odd because it took breaking up for their kids to realize that their relationship isn’t the end of the world. Odd because it took breaking up for everyone to try with each other, odd because a couple weeks ago Niall was smacking Power Rangers out of Zayn’s hand and making cry, but now he’s playing with Zayn, something he asked to do, not something that he was forced to do. 

They kick the ball around for maybe half an hour before Niall is walking Zayn back to Liam, his cheeks flushed. Zayn’s dragging behind him, eyes blinking slow and heavy. 

“Dada, I’m tired,” Zayn whines, letting go of Niall’s hand to drape himself across Liam’s lap, yawning. 

Liam laughs, picking Zayn up as he stands. “Did you two have fun?” He asks, watching as Niall nods, rushing off into the house. Liam frowns but doesn’t say anything, just lets him go as he follows behind, patting Zayn’s back. 

Zayn doesn’t him, but he can feel his eyelashes against his neck, blinking slowly as Zayn fights sleep. 

After he puts him to bed, wrapping a blanket around him in Louis’ room, he heads back into the living room, following the sound of the television. He finds Niall on the couch, lounging back and staring at the screen with a cup of water in his hand. Liam can’t help but laugh, because Niall has a straw in the glass, drinking it without sitting up. 

“You’re very clever,” he says, dropping down next to Niall’s feet. “Most people just drink and then lie down, but not you.” 

“If I drink it slowly then I won’t be as thirsty, sometimes I’m still thirsty after I have a drink, especially if I drink it too fast,” Niall explains, and Liam just nods, not wanting to argue with Niall’s logic. 

“Can I ask you something?” Liam asks, feeling an ounce of bravery for reasons unknown. 

Niall sighs, muting the television and sitting up. “It depends on what it is.” 

Liam nods. “How would you feel about meeting my mother?” Liam’s not really sure why he’s asking, or why he’s thinking about it, but there’s something about today that reminds him of his mothers words, her desire to meet Louis and his two boys, the three people who are slowly wedging themselves into Liam’s life. 

“Why?” Niall asks, confused, his eyebrow raised. 

“I’ve mentioned you a time or two, and she’s really interested in meeting both you and Harry, but I don’t want to make you do anything that you’re not comfortable with, so if you’d rather not then that’s perfectly okay,” Liam clarifies, nodding, “I just wanted to mention it to you before I tried anything.”

“Why would she want to meet me?” 

Liam thinks for a minute, chewing on his bottom lip, trying to think of a way to explain to Niall why his mom would want to meet him. “You know how your dad wanted to meet Nick and Jade?” 

“Yeah…” 

“Well, that’s a parent thing, your parents want to meet the person that you’re dating, even when you’re my age,” Liam explains and Niall nods, like he’s understanding so far. “So my mom wants to meet your dad, but through that she also wants to meet both you and Harry, because I’m dating your dad, and I’m happy with him, and you’re an extension of your dad, so it’s only natural that she wants to meet you as well.”

Niall looks at him for a moment, processing the information. Liam hopes that it makes a bit of sense, because he doesn’t know how to describe it, and doesn’t know how to say that his mother has showed more interest in meeting both him and Harry than she ever did with meeting Louis. 

“Do I have to call her grandma?” Niall asks, frowning and looking slightly put off. 

“No,” Liam laughs, shaking his head. “You don’t have to call her anything other than her name.”

The sound of the door opening causes both of them to turn, staring behind the couch towards the front door where Louis walks in with a wide grin on his face. 

“Guess who is cast free,” Louis sings, stepping aside to allow Harry entry. He’s nodding and rolling his eyes, but he holds his arm up for everyone to see. 

“Hey, look at you,” Liam says, grinning. 

“Your arm looks flat,” Niall comments, his head titled to the side. “It’s kind of weird, but you’re going to have a scar. I can tell.” 

“It’ll make me look manly,” Harry says, winking. 

Niall snorts. “No, it won’t, but at least now you won’t look stupid when you hug Nick.” 

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious,” Harry retorts, rolling his eyes, trying to walk away from Niall towards his bedroom, but Niall follows, still not finished taunting him. 

“Zayn’s sleeping,” Liam calls after them, wanting to warn them to be quiet, not like their voices would wake his son, but still.

~~~~~ 

“Are you going to tell me how it went while I was gone?” Louis asks, pulling his knees up and scooting closer to Liam on the couch. “Harry and I were betting on there being a fight. Was there a fight?” 

“There was not a fight,” Liam confirms, smiling. Louis frowns at him, because he had definitely placed money on there being fight, so did Harry in all fairness, and it’s disappointing to hear otherwise, because he almost got Harry to do the dishes for two weeks. “You look disappointed. Was I supposed to pick a fight with your son?” 

“No, but I was hoping that I’d get Harry to do the dishes. I knew that I should have bet on there not being a fight. My gut told me to do it, but I went against my gut.” 

“Ah, the always horrible going against our instincts,” Liam says, wrapping his hand around Louis ankle, his thumb stroking the bone. “Actually, it went really well. Niall taught Zayn how to score a goal and then we talked.” 

“About?” Louis asks. 

“Your kids meeting my parents.” Louis raises an eyebrow, because well that's, it’s something. It’s definitely something. And usually, when he thinks about something like that, it’s in a more serious setting, a relationship that’s going to beat the odds and last into the future, which he could see happening with Liam. He could and if he closes his eyes, he can see it, and it’s not a fuzzy vision, it’s clear, but. “It doesn’t have to be a big deal, it could just be them with me when I pick Zayn up. She won’t leave me alone until she meets them.” 

“Does she want to meet me?” Louis questions. 

Liam shakes his head. “No, she only cares about children.” 

“Speaking of children,” Louis mumbles, watching as Harry and Niall enter the living room, Harry carrying Zayn. He sets him down over the edge of the couch, directly on Liam’s lap. “Did you two wake him?” 

“No, he came walking in Harry’s room,” Niall says, nodding. “He was rubbing his eyes and stuff, so I guess he just woke up.” 

“That was a long nap,” Liam comments, rubbing Zayn’s back. 

“I was tired,” Zayn says as explanation. Louis smiles at him, reaching over to pat his back gently. 

“Dad?” Harry says. 

“Hmm?” 

“Would it be all right if Nick came over?” 

Louis glances up at Liam, their eyes locking and Liam raises an eyebrow, like he’s telling Louis that it’ll be fine, that Nick isn’t a bad guy just because he’s a few years old. Louis sighs and nods. “Yeah, I guess.” 

Harry sighs, his shoulders slumping. “Thank god, because he’s kind of already here,” he admits, biting his lip. 

“What does that mean?” Louis questions, an eyebrow raised. 

Harry smiles and steps towards the front door, pulling it open to reveal Nick. He steps inside cautiously, offering a quick wave. “Hello everyone,” Nick says. 

“Hey Nick, how are you?” Louis asks and he feels Liam’s hand rest on his knee, squeezing. 

“I’m fine, yeah. Thanks,” Nick says, smiling. 

“Do you notice anything different about Harry?” Niall asks, grinning and raising his eyebrows, shifting them up at down at Nick. 

Nick frowns and then turns towards Harry, nodding in realization. “He got his cast off,” Nick says, licking his lips. “I guess we’re not allowed to write on your arm.” 

“We could,” Niall mutters. “But not permanent, because my dad will be really angry.” 

“Of course, yeah.”

It’s quiet after that, Nick and Harry standing there awkwardly, looking at each other and Liam’s grip on his knee is tight, a firm grip that is telling Louis he needs to say something, something to redeem himself and prove to Harry that he really is going to try with this whole Nick situation, like Harry is trying with Liam. Harry has gone above and beyond for Louis, and he’s thankful in everyway that he should be, but it’s still awkward knowing that he lashed out a bit the last time Nick was around. 

“Well, can I get you anything?” Louis asks, doing his best to smile. “Some water or something?” 

“No, I’m fine,” Nick says, nodding. He smiles and Louis nods, because he really doesn’t know what else to say at this point. 

“Oh god, come on,” Harry groans, grabbing Nick by the arm and dragging him away. “We’ll be in my room if you need me.” He says and Nick waves, smiling at them one last time. 

“That bedroom door better stay open,” Louis shouts after them, pausing to try and listen for whatever Harry’s remark might be, because while he is trying to be nicer to Nick, he’s not trying to bend the rules that he has established, one’s he created because of Nick. Only, he doesn’t hear Harry say anything, instead he hears:

“Your step-dad is pretty hot,” Nick mumbles and Louis’ mouth drops open a bit, turning to look at a blushing Liam. 

“Is this a theme?” Liam asks, rubbing at his cheek. 

~~~

Going to bed that night feels like a gift, Louis’ joints are aching with the desire to sleep. Liam’s spending the night again, Zayn curled up between them, but gripping Liam’s chest, holding onto him tightly. Neither Harry nor Niall made a comment about it, just said good night and went into their bedrooms. 

“You know, if we keep making this a habit then we’re really going to have to invest in some kind of cot for Zayn so he’s not hopping around people’s beds every night,” Louis mutters, rooting through his drawers, trying to find a pair of pajama bottoms. 

“Yeah,” Liam says and Louis glances into the mirror to see that he’s nodding, staring down at the blanket. “Or like, we could just buy him a bed.” 

“And where would we put it?” Louis scoffs, shaking his head, stepping out of his jeans. “I don’t have the room for anymore beds in this house, unless it’s one of those ones that pulls out of the couch.”

“I mean, it’s kind of soon, but. I don’t know. I’ve just been thinking,” Liam mumbles, shrugging. 

“Thinking about what?” 

“Thinking about how I like when the five of us are together, and you know, it’s soon, but what if we were to like, get a place together?” Liam asks, biting his lip. 

Louis pauses and frowns, pulling up his pajama bottoms slowly, staring at Liam. “That’s like—Liam, that’s a huge step.” 

Liam nods. “I really like you, Louis. I do. And my son likes you, and he loves your boys. It just—I don’t know, Louis. It feels right.” 

“Yeah, but, it’s so soon. And like, obviously I’ve thought about it before, but there are kids involved, we’d be uprooting them from their homes and thrusting them into a new situation, which—everything has been going so well lately, I’m worried it might be spoiled if we did anything drastic,” Louis says, biting his lip, because god, how could he not think about moving in with Liam and merging their families together? How could he not want something so wonderful and perfect? 

“I mean, that’s true and all, but I don’t know how much longer we’re going to do this whole, like, spending the night thing, right? And my son needs more than just a couch or a tiny bit of bed that he’s sharing with someone else,” Liam says. 

“That’s why I suggested the cot,” Louis mumbles. 

“And okay, your kids keeping telling everyone that I’m their step-dad, a title that they gave me without anyone else’s influence. And Harry did it for Christ’s sake, Harry,” Liam says, motioning towards the door, like he’s pointing at Harry. “And I’m not saying that it has to happen, but wouldn’t it be nice? Wouldn't it be nice to just be together?”

Louis looks at him for a moment, sighing. Liam’s staring at him intently, waiting for Louis’ answer, and he doesn’t know what to say. He feels torn, like his answer could be wrong no matter what he says. 

Suddenly though, the bedroom door is being swung up, revealing Harry. “Doors aren’t allowed to be closed in this house, remember?” He says, smirking. “You might have gotten away with it last night, but not tonight.” 

“Yes, thank you, Harry. Go to sleep, please,” Louis says, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.


	42. Chapter 42

Liam barely makes it a day after he mentions moving in with Louis before he starts looking for places. He’s not sure why he can’t seem to forget the idea, why the thought of it is so appealing that when he tries to forget about it something itches, something deep beneath his skin. Louis didn’t say no, not really anyway. He seemed hesitant, worried maybe, but not like he was going to decline Liam. They didn’t get the chance to pick up the conversation, not wanting to talk about it with the bedroom door open, but that didn’t mean it went away, not for Liam anyway. 

And it’s the most absurd thing that he’s ever thought, really. That he and Louis could live together, that their families could merge together, that they could become one. Nothing is ever easy for them, and the mere thought of introducing this to Harry and Niall sends chills up his spine, a shudder as he remembers how the pair reacted to their relationship, to Liam’s son, to everything else that’s happen. 

And yet, it still doesn’t stop him from googling available real estate in their town while he’s at work instead of actually working. He can get away with skipping a few things for an hour or two, get away with scratching the itch beneath his skin that’s telling him this is a good idea. 

The options seem endless, really, and Liam rubs his palms against his face, his eyes aching from the light of the screen from having read countless descriptions of homes, all of them a little worse than the other. The houses weren’t bad, but the way the agents talked about them, like they were made of gold and the floors were diamonds and rubies, like the king used to live there or something. 

Liam’s so engrossed in searching for homes that he doesn’t hear his office door opening and closing, or footsteps nearing him, he does, however, hear Harry’s voice when he says, “What are you doing?”

Liam jumps, mouse shaking in his grip as he scrambles to change tabs, back to the one of his email, if he can ever find it. “Um, nothing. Nothing,” Liam says, finally opening his email and turning to smile at Harry. 

“Are you planning on moving?” Harry asks, frowning. 

“Did you need something, Harry?” Liam asks, straightening up a bit, feeling like he got caught doing something that he shouldn’t have. Like maybe if he ignores the question that Harry will forget that he saw Liam shift through seven tabs of homes. It’s not likely, at all, but he likes to kid himself these days. 

Harry shakes his head. “No, just taking my break.” 

“Right.” 

“So what were you doing? Are you moving or something?” 

“Um, maybe,” Liam says, biting, because it’s the closest to the truth that he can get. He can’t tell Harry that’s trying to look for something for their families to move into together. He’d rather not have a blow out at work. 

Harry looks at him, frowning again. “Does my dad know?” 

“I uh, mentioned it briefly,” Liam admits, swallowing. 

Harry nods. “Good, that’d be pretty shitty of you to move without telling him,” he says, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Although, you can’t be going very far.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“That one you were just looking at, the one you tried to hide, that’s down the street from Caroline’s house,” Harry mumbles, thumb scrolling on the screen of his phone. 

“Interesting,” Liam mutters, making a note of it. Harry couldn’t be angry if they moved near one of his friends, or so Liam hopes. If they were to even more, he’s getting ahead of himself, obviously, but it’s something to consider. “Harry, you know that you’re free to do anything with your break, right? You don’t have to visit me.” 

“I’m not visiting you,” Harry says, his eyes never leaving his phone. “I’m just not watching ants crawl across the parking lot, if that’s all right. Or like, watching Claire smoke or something.” 

“Yeah, I guess I am a more interesting route,” Liam says, nodding as he turns back to his computer, deciding to actually check his email instead of keeping it up to pretend like he wasn’t doing something Harry knows that he was. “Actually,” he mumbles, turning back to face Harry. “Can I talk to you about something?” 

“Depends on what it is,” Harry replies, setting his phone down on Liam’s desk. 

Liam smiles, remembering how Niall had said the same thing when Liam brought this up to him. “How would you feel about meeting my mom?” 

Harry pulls a face, frowning. “Why?” 

“She wants to meet you.” 

“Do I even get a say in this?” 

“You get all of the say, actually. Well, you and Niall, but if either one of you says no, or feels uncomfortable doing so then we’re putting it off, I’ll tell her you’re not comfortable.”

“And she wouldn’t be mad?” Liam shakes his head and Harry nods. “Is like, because you want us to meet her, or um, like, just because we’re your boyfriends kids?” 

“Bit of both, I suppose,” Liam says, shrugging. “Although, if I’m being honest, think she cares more about meeting you and Niall than she does your father.” 

“Who can blame her,” Harry jokes, but he’s not smiling. His eyebrows are knitted together, as he thinks. Liam waits patiently, watching Harry carefully until Harry sighs. “You’re the only one of my dad’s boyfriends who has ever wanted us to meet his family.” 

“Well, without saying I told you so, I would hope it’s obvious that I’m not like them.” 

“I know,” Harry says, nodding. “Or well, I’m figuring it out. None of them would have cared enough to meet Nick, or would have taken care of Niall when I broke my arm.” He makes a noise that sounds somewhere between a sigh and a groan, like he’s admitting defeat to himself and he’s annoyed about it. “All right, when do you want us to meet her?” 

~~~ 

“Dada, where my bubbles?” Zayn asks, tapping the surface of the water and looking at Liam curiously. 

“They’re disappearing because you’ve been in there too long,” Liam tells him, frowning sympathetically when Zayn pouts. “But since they’re almost gone that means your water will be turning cold soon, we’ll have to wash your hair now.” 

Zayn nods his head, already reaching for one of his bath toys. Liam takes that as the biggest go ahead that he’s going to get from his son and squirts some shampoo onto the palm of his hand, rubbing his hands together before he starts massaging it into Zayn’s hair. 

“That hurts,” Zayn whines, pulling his head down his chin is nearly touching his chest, shying away from Liam. 

“Did I accidentally pull your hair?” Liam asks, removing his hands from Zayn’s scalp, looking at him cautiously. 

“No, it hurts my eye.” 

“Let me see it.” 

Zayn looks up, eyes clear as glass and Liam knows that he doesn’t have shampoo in his eyes. “Are you sure it got in your eye?” 

“Yes, it hurts my eye.” 

Liam nods, dipping his hands in the water to rinse off the shampoo suds. “Do you think that it’ll be worse if I rinse your hair out? Or do you need to do it?”

“I have to do it,” Zayn says but he smiles as soon as Liam passes him the cup used for water. Liam’s not going to remind him that he’s worse at dumping the water over his head, instead he just watches fondly as Zayn fills the cup up, pours it over his head and then sputters when the water gets in his open eyes and mouth. 

Liam reaches down and wipes his hands off on Zayn’s towel before he holds it out for him, allowing Zayn to wipe the soapy water out of his eyes. “Now can are you ready to get out or do you want five more minutes?”

“Three more minutes,” Zayn says, trying to bargain with Liam. 

Liam sighs, making a show of looking defeated. “All right, bub, you can have three more minutes and then we’re going to bed.” 

“Okay, Dada,” Zayn agrees, turning away from Liam to grab one of his toys. Liam smiles at the back of him before he digs into his pocket and pulls out of his phone, finally noticing the text that Louis sent while they having dinner apparently. 

Liam swallows when he reads it because it says, _Harry says you’re house hunting._

 **I was just browsing** , he types back. It’s the truth. It’s not like he put in any offers or anything. It’s not like he found the most perfect house situated between where Liam and Louis live now. He didn’t. He just…looked. That’s all he did. It’s not a crime. 

Liam shoves his phone back into his pocket and sighs, reaching into the tub to pull the drain. “All right, big boy, it’s time for bed,” he says, helping Zayn out of the tub and wrapping him up in a towel. “Run to your room and pick pajamas.” 

Liam doesn’t check his phone until after he’s gotten Zayn to bed and after he’s gotten ready for bed himself, showered and clothed. 

Pulling the blankets up to his waist, Liam grabs his phone off his night stand and sees that Louis has texted him three more times

_It’s fine if you want to browse, but don’t you think we should talk about this?_

_This feels like it came from nowhere, we can’t just move in together because you feel like you’re at my place too much._

_I hope that you’re not ignoring me. I’d really like to talk about this._

Liam stares at his phone, fingers hovering over the keyboard as he thinks about what to say, because yes, it does feel very sudden but it also feels right, in a way that Liam can’t really put his finger on properly to explain. And it sounds that’s what Louis needs, an explanation, a list of reasons laid out for him so he can decide if they’re worthy enough of such a drastic change for not only him but his children. And Liam gets that, because this would be a change for Zayn as well, granted Zayn would be able to adapt a little easier, he’d be able to grow accustomed to the fact that Harry, Niall and Louis are living in the same house as him now. While Harry and Niall, he’d take them a minute. Liam gets that, but he wouldn’t think of something like this if he thought it would be horrible for the children. 

Liam’s not that kind of guy and he hopes that Louis understands that, because Liam’s not sure he does at this point. He thought Louis would be on board with his plans, he thought that this idea would be appealing to more than just him. 

Liam sighs, because he’s not sure what to say in a text message, so he closes out of the message and switches to his address book, scrolling down to Louis’ number and pressing call. 

~~~~~ 

Louis is sitting on the couch, staring down at his phone anxiously, waiting to hear from Liam. He knows, realistically that Liam wouldn’t ignore him when it comes to a conversation like this, because this is something that needs to be properly discusses and that’s Liam’s forte. Louis is honestly surprised that it’s Liam coming up with this whole plan and not himself. It seems like it should be him hiding away at work browsing homes on the computer and trying to find a way to introduce the subject of his searches to not only Louis but also everyone else involved. It doesn’t seem like a very Liam action at all. 

Louis doesn’t understand. And it’s not like he doesn’t want this with Liam, it’s just that…there are a lot of steps in their relationship that haven’t happened yet. Yes they’ve gone out on dates, yes they’ve met each others children and even though it took a while, they’re kids are fond of the other, and yes they’ve spent the night at each other’s houses. And obviously they’ve had sex, but there is still some things missing. 

Louis doesn’t want to move in with Liam just because Liam enjoys his company or because they spend so much of their time at Louis’ place. That’s not a reason that two families should merge together in one house. 

Louis wants to move in with Liam because Liam loves him, because Liam loves his kids and he wants to work on merging their separate families together to form one. That’s what Louis wants, but Liam hasn’t mentioned that he might love Louis, he hasn’t said anything about it, and so Louis isn’t going to either. 

And that might not be fair, to hide his feelings away and keep them private when Liam deserves to know how Louis feels about him, because of course Louis loves Liam, it’s not something sudden. Louis feels like it’s been building up inside of him for ages but he buried it a bit and tried not to think about it, but suddenly he couldn’t, because Liam was asking him to live with him, to share a home with him, all without actually giving Louis a clue as to how much he actually cares about him. 

Louis needs to hear it but he’s not going to ask for it. Louis has pushed enough. He pushed and he pushes Liam into asking him out on a date, pushes Liam into giving him a chance, but he’s not going to push this. He wants Liam to get to that place on his own without any of Louis’ help. 

Louis shakes himself out of his thoughts when his phone rings, the device lighting up in his hand and revealing Liam’s name. He breathes out a sigh of relief, standing up from the couch and pressing talk. 

Liam must recognize that Louis has accepted his call because Louis isn’t even able to utter a greeting because Liam is saying, “Would it be so awful to live with me?”

“What?” 

“I said, would it be so awful to live with me?” 

“Liam, that’s not why I said any of that.” 

“Because I’ll have you know that I’m an amazing person to live with, my son can vouch for me,” Liam is saying and Louis can’t help but smile, motioning to Niall that he’ll be out back, to holler if he needs him. “I make breakfast every morning and I do laundry every Friday. I leave the trash at the curb on Wednesday night for pick up on Thursday morning so that I’m not rushing in my slippers like my neighbor. I clean up after my son and myself. But Zayn’s three, so I’m not sure that’s a fair point, but I do clean.” 

“I’m not that fond of cleaning,” Louis admits, sitting down on his deck chair, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankle. “I also don’t make breakfast every morning, only sometimes. My children are fortunately old enough to navigate the kitchen.” 

“Well, all the more reason to live with me. I’ll keep everyone fed and nourished. Or I’ll make them gain a ridiculous amount of weight with all the pancakes I’ll make and then they’ll have to start joining me on my morning jobs that I rarely get, but I could, if we lived together. And you’d be able to get time to yourself. You could go sit at the park and knit me a sweater, just to get out of the house. Or you could stay at home and knit and I could take all the kids to see a movie.” 

“Liam, that all sounds wonderful, you know that it does, but-“ 

“But nothing. You’d go to sleep every night with someone beside you, because I don’t travel. And I create my own hours, so I get to pick and choose when I want to work,” Liam says and he sounds so earnest and so hopeful that Liam can’t help but smile. “And your wardrobe would expand, because I’d let you borrow my clothes.”

“I don’t need more clothes.” 

“Well, then you can ignore my half of the closet completely. I’ll build a wall in the closet so you don’t ever have to look at them.” 

“You’re being ridiculous.” 

Liam sighs into the phone. “I know I am. And I’m not trying to pressure you into anything; I just want you to understand that this wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. I think even Harry and Niall would like it, maybe not at first. Definitely not at first.” 

“Definitely not at first, right.”

“But they’d be on board eventually, don’t you think?”

Now it’s Louis turn to sigh because he doesn’t know, it would depend. Niall and Harry aren’t going to want to leave their home, leave their friends, leave their school just because Louis fell in love and couldn’t tell that man no, because it’s not like the man loves him back. 

“You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?” Louis finally asks, staring down at his bare feet, wiggling his toes to give himself something to look at it. 

“You wouldn’t take no for an answer about going out on a date, I guess we both have to put our foot down somewhere.” 

Louis laughs, shaking his head because of course Liam is going to bring that up, the little bastard. Louis takes back his idea on loving him; Liam is rotten. “All right, smart guy. How about this? Tomorrow we’ll meet for lunch when I get off work and then we can talk about this properly, face to face. How does that sound?” 

“It sounds amazing, future roommate.” 

Louis snorts and rubs at his face because he never thought catching sight of a pretty owner of a grocery store would lead to this. 

~~~ 

Liam and Zayn are already sat at a table when Louis arrives, Liam reading items off the menu to Zayn, his head down so that he doesn’t see Louis coming. But Zayn does, his face splitting into a grin at the sight of Louis, hand waving wildly. 

“Well, hello, Zayn. I’m glad someone is happy to see,” Louis says when he reaches the table; he leans over and kisses Zayn on the cheek, smiling at Liam. “Only the people excited about my presence get kisses.” 

“If I had seen you coming I’d have said hello,” Liam says. There’s a hint of a smile on his face as he leans back towards Zayn. “Zayn, do you want macaroni or chicken nuggets?” 

“Macaroni.” 

“Do you want fruit or vegetables?” 

“Fruits.” 

“Milk or water?” 

“Apple juice.” 

Liam nods, like he’s impressed with Zayn and Louis smiles, flipping his own menu open. 

“I can make sure you get some juice,” Liam promises, handing Zayn back his menu along with a packet of crayons. “Be careful not to drop them, okay?” 

Zayn nods, his eyes trained on the menu, slowly picking up a crayon to draw. Louis smiles at him once before his eyes drop down to his menu, chewing on his bottom lip as he reads all of his options. He’s never been here before but it sounds like it’s going to be nice. As Louis’ reading, he feels a pair of warm lips on his cheek, he turns his head, his face inches from Liam and Louis raises an eyebrow. 

“Hello,” Liam murmurs quietly, grinning at Louis. “I didn’t say it earlier, but hello.”

“Trying to compete with your son for my affection?” Louis asks. 

“Would it be a competition?” 

Louis nods. “I’m afraid that I like Zayn a little more than you, obviously not in the same way, but still. If I was asked to pick then I’d choose him.” 

“Good to know,” Liam says, pulling away as the waiter approaches their table, he smiles up at him and Louis sighs, because he hasn’t even had enough to glance menu properly. Liam was being distracting, trying to being cute or something. 

In the end Louis orders a sandwich, passing his menu away and watching the waiter walk off before to turns to Liam, because they came here for a reason, a reason that Louis spent all night thinking about, and he’s not going to forget this one as easily, even if Liam tries his hardest to distract him. 

“Are we going to talk about this buying a house together thing?” Louis asks. 

“I figured you’d want to eat lunch first before we talked about that, but yeah. All right, let’s talk,” Liam agrees, resting his elbows on the table. “Why won’t you move in with me?” 

“It’s not about not wanting to move in with you. It's about,” Louis pauses, smiling at the waiter as he sets their water glasses on the table, handing Zayn handing Zayn his juice. “It’s more about—it’s soon, don’t you think? And there are kids involved. I don’t want to drag them to grow used to a situation where they begin to consider this new house home and then something happens to us, and then what? We have to pack up and force them back into another house?”

“You don’t think that we’ll make it?”

“No, that’s not what I said. Or meant,” Louis says, because it’s not. At all. “I’m trying to be practical, which is usually your forte, by the way.” 

“Okay. I can be practical. What are the cons of moving in together?” Liam asks. 

“Well,” Louis sighs, taking a quick drink of water. “Niall and Harry would never go for it.” 

“I like Harry,” Zayn says, looking at Liam and Louis, nodding his head earnestly. 

“Me too,” Louis says, grinning back at Zayn. “And Niall. I like Niall, too.” 

Zayn nods. “Yeah. I like Niall.” 

“There you have it,” Liam says, shrugging like he’s figured it all out. 

“Have what?” 

“That’s the reason that we’d be moving in together, wouldn’t it?” 

“Because Zayn likes my children?” 

Liam sighs, releasing a lungful of air, shaking his head. “We’d be moving in together because of that, yeah. But also because Niall and Harry like Zayn and me, I think. Most of the time. A lot more than they did before.” 

Louis nods, stirring his straw around slowly in his drink. “That’s a fair point.” 

“Exactly, it’s the most important point. We can talk all day about the cons of why we shouldn’t live together, we could. I’m sure we’d come up with a very long list, if we thought long enough about it. But we’d also come up with an amazing list of pros,” Liam says. “And the most important pro of them all is that we care about each other. We do. I mean, I love you, so like, it’s only obvious that I care about you. But I care about your kids, Louis. I do. I care about Harry’s relationship with Nick and that he’s happy, that he’s being treated well. I care when he talks about school or whatever it may be, anything that he wants to me about, I care about it. And Niall, I care about Niall, as well. I care about his sports and how he feels about Jade and whatever it is that’s going on with them.” 

Louis stares at Liam, eyes wide and mouth hung open slightly because Liam—Liam said he loved him. It wasn’t like a declaration, nothing romantic that could easily be seen in a movie or a New York Times best seller list, but he said it. And he said it so freely; like it’s something he talks about all the time. Maybe he does, maybe Liam tells everyone that he loves Louis besides Louis. Louis has no idea, but—wow. Louis stomach is twisting and he feels like he’s floating. He has to grip the table, needs an anchor to hold him down. 

“What?” Liam asks, looking at Louis with concern written across his face. “Did I say something wrong?” 

“No,” Louis says quickly, shaking his head. “No. Um, go back. Go back to what you said before my kids.” 

“We care about each other?” Liam says, stating it like a question, his eyebrows pulled together as he thinks back. 

“No right after that. Say that part again.” 

Louis watches as Liam thinks, mumbling under his breath as he remembers the conversation they just had. “I love you,” Liam mumbles and then he steps, his mouth forming a little o. “Oh. Oh. Um, that part?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.” 

“I love you, Dada,” Zayn says, smiling at him. 

Louis breathes out a laugh, his shoulders relaxing. 

Liam leans over and kisses Zayn on the cheek. “I love you too, Zayn. And you, Louis. I um. Yeah. I love you. I didn’t realize that was the first time I said that. I’m sorry it wasn’t more romantic, but.” He shrugs, looking unapologetic. “I love you.” 

“You’re being serious?” Louis asks, letting go of the table to rub sweaty palms against his jeans. 

Liam frowns. “I wouldn’t lie to you about that. I’m not that person.” 

So this is really happening, Louis thinks, placing a hand over his pounding heart. It feels like it’s going to beat right out of his chest and his cheeks hurt from smiling, he feels crazed, wonders if he looks the that way. “Liam Payne, I cannot believe you. How dare you tell me that you love me in the middle of a crowded restaurant.” 

Liam frowns. “I’m sorry.” 

“I really want to kiss you right now but I’m not sure that I’ll be able to stop any time soon, so I really can’t kiss you right now, because we’ll get tossed out. And that’s not something Zayn should witness, the kissing; he can watch me get thrown out. Oh god. How dare you?” Louis says, laughing because Liam is really frowning at him like he did something wrong, like he should actually be sorry and Liam should never be sorry, not for this. 

“I can tell you again in the car, if you’d like. And when we get back to my place,” Liam says, smiling back at Louis. “And Zayn will need a nap after this, so. I think we’ll find time for kissing. If you want.” 

Louis rolls his eyes, of course he wants. “Yeah, of course. And like, um. You know. I love you too, right?"

“I love you, Louis,” Zayn says, smiling at him before he puts his mouth around his straw, drinking his juice. 

Louis grins, leaning over to kiss Zayn on the cheek before he tells him that he loves him back. 

~~~

Harry and Niall take the news about as well as anyone would have expected. 

“You’re not being serious,” Harry says, folding his arms over his chest and glaring. 

“You’re out of your mind,” Niall says. 

“I’m not leaving this house.” 

“Neither am I.” 

“What would even make you think this?” 

“Yeah, what’s the matter with you?” 

“There is nothing the matter with us,” Louis sighs, shaking his head. “Obviously you’re allowed to tell us no, but ultimately, it’ll be our decision. But this won’t be like with our relationship where you can act like little monsters to get your way, that’s not going to work with this time around. 

“Okay. Whatever,” Harry says, rolling his eyes. “What’s the matter with this house? Why can’t Zayn and Liam move in here?” 

“There’s no room for Zayn,” Liam says, “He’d have to sleep on the floor every day for the rest of his life, that’s not really fair, is it?” 

“Dad has a big closet, why can’t you put Zayn’s bed in there?” Niall asks. 

Liam breathes out a laugh, shaking his head. “My son isn’t sleeping in a closet, Niall. He deserves a place to sleep, just like you and Harry.” 

“Then have him sleep at your house, with you,” Harry says. 

“Yeah, stay at your house.” 

Louis rubs his temples because he definitely told Liam that they need a game plan and to not just toss this at them in the middle of a conversation, but Liam, bless him, was far too excited and decided that tossing it out in the middle of a conversation would work just fine. It’s giving Louis a headache. 

“Liam and I would like to move in together. I understand that you both need time to think about it, but this is something we really want,” Louis says, trying to keep from pleading with his children. They’ve all come so far. He’d hate to take two steps forward and thirty steps back. 

“Well we’re not leaving, so good luck,” Harry says, standing up from the couch and stomping off towards his room. Louis sighs, turning to give Liam a look.


	43. Chapter 43

They don’t mention the topic of moving again for another week. Louis and Liam have talked about it, though, the two of them discussing it at night, after the kids are asleep, if they can. In Louis’ opinion, Liam seems pretty serious about it. He’s been looking at places constantly, emailing Louis links to houses that he thinks might work. Louis is content to let him do the work for it, because he knows that Liam will find something. And truth be told, Louis isn’t sure how much of a rush he’s actually in to move. Not a very big one, unless they find the right place. 

Louis wants to, of course he does, but he’s not sure if he has the energy in him to actually pack up his house and put it all somewhere else. If they even plan on keeping all this stuff, that is, because Liam has a house of his own with stuff inside of it, and Louis isn’t sure how well the two places would mesh together in one. 

Those are some things that they haven’t talked about, how they’re going to furnish the inside of a house. But Louis thinks that Liam isn’t as picky as he is, and if there is enough room, they could probably find places for everything. Maybe. 

Moving is difficult. 

Obviously Louis’ worries are nothing compared to Harry and Niall’s, the pair of them shooting Liam dirty looks every time he’s over at the house. Currently they’re staring Louis down from across the kitchen table, where Louis has called an emergency family meeting. He understands that they’re angry about the prospect of having to relocate, but he’s tired of their behavior. It’s exhausting to deal with at the best of times. 

“I’m not moving into a new house,” Harry says stubbornly, arms folded over his chest as he glares at Louis. “I’m in high school, why are you trying to make me leave?” 

“We’re not. There are plenty of houses for sale that belong to your school district. You don’t have to change schools.” 

“I’m not changing school’s either.” 

“Neither of you are,” Louis sighs. They’ve been arguing this point for ten minutes now. “I’ve already told Liam that we’re not doing that to you guys. It doesn’t matter with Zayn, because he’s not enrolled in school yet, but I told him that we’re not going to completely remove you from your own lives because we want to live together.” 

“As long as you know,” Niall mumbles. 

“Good, now that we have that established, what else seems to be the issue?” 

Niall shrugs, turning to look at Harry. Louis represses an eye roll at that, turning to look at his eldest son. 

“You got anything?” 

“Yeah, Liam’s a liar.” 

“He wasn’t lying to you, Harry,” Louis sighs. They’ve gone over this too, not today, but enough times that Louis is tired of hearing about it. He understands that Harry feels betrayed by the fact Liam implied it was just him and Zayn moving, especially since they’ve been getting along so well, but it’s not like Liam was going to run the idea by Harry before he spoke to Louis. Louis isn’t sure what Harry expected from him. 

“He omitted the part where he was trying to find me a new house,” Harry says, unfolding him arms and sitting up a little straighter. “Not just himself, but for me too.”

Louis sighs, resting his head in his hands for a moment as he collects his thoughts. “I know this is a big change for you two. It’s a big change for me, to think about leaving the house that I raised you both in, but sometimes change is good. Things have to change, even when you don’t want them to.” 

“I don’t want this change,” Niall tells him. 

“I know you don’t and I understand that. But we’re trying really hard to make sure that nothing changes for you both besides your address. We’re going to still live in this town. We’re going to still have you both going to the same schools. It’s just your house that will change,” Louis explains. “But it’s going to be a big change for me too. Dad’s never had a relationship like this before. And I know you don’t like the gross details, but I really do love Liam.” 

Niall pulls a face at that, his features scrunching up. Harry merely shifts his gaze, focusing more intently on Louis. 

“It’s hard dating someone when you have kids. Maybe one day you’ll understand that, a day very far in the future,” Louis says, sighing. “And moving in together is sometimes happens in relationships, when people are ready to take the next step. Liam and I want to do that, we want to give it a shot. It’ll change things, but it would make me really happy if you two could just keep an open mind about it. I’m not asking you to agree, not yet, but just think about it, okay?”

Harry sighs, running his fingers through his curls. “Way to make us feel bad about it,” he mumbles and Louis laughs, shaking his head. 

“Alright. I agree, Liam is totally trying to make your lives miserable.” 

“That’s better,” Niall agrees, nodding. 

Louis leans over, ruffling Niall’s hair, as the door to their house swings open. Louis turns to see Liam walking in the house, carrying a stack of papers in his hands. Liam looks apologetic as he shuts the door, mouthing an apology to Louis. 

“I’m sorry for walking in,” he whispers, moving across the room silently to enter the kitchen. “You said I could, but I’m not sure—sorry.” 

“It’s fine,” Louis tells him, watching as Liam looks around. 

“Did I interrupt something? Should I go in the other room?” Liam asks, motioning over his shoulder. “I can do that. I’ll go in there, just call me when it’s good to come in. Sorry.” 

“No, we were actually just talking about the move.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah, dad was just guilt tripping us,” Niall says. 

“And doing a decent job,” Harry mumbles quietly, like he didn’t want anything to hear that bit of it. 

“That’s good,” Liam says, wetting his lips as he nods. “I think I found the perfect place.” 

“You did?” Louis asks, raising an eyebrow. He hasn’t heard anything about that. 

“I’ve spent the last week trying really hard to find the perfect place, which is hard, considering we need four bedrooms and enough space for five people, right? But I think I figured it out.” 

“Are you going to give us more information?” Harry asks. 

“It’s a two-story,” Liam explains. “Um, but it’s nice. It has all the common areas on the first floor, so if you want to be in your room, you’d go upstairs. It has a bathroom downstairs, but there are two more upstairs. Along with four bedrooms, so everyone gets their own space, right? Um, one is by the master bedroom, so that will be Zayn’s. But you two,” he says, motioning towards Harry and Niall, “would be on the other side, away from us.” 

“So nothing special, really,” Niall says, shrugging when Louis turns to look at him. It really isn’t that special, but it’s something. 

“Not on the surface, I guess, but your bedrooms would be bigger. That’s kind of a perk,” Liam says. “And the outside is nice. It has a big fenced off yard, with a pool, so Niall you could have your friends over for swimming, instead of always have to go to their houses. It has a play set installed, but that would mostly be for Zayn. But there is still enough room for you to kick the ball around in the grass.”

“What about school?” Harry asks. 

“It’s not far from here, and I made sure that you could both still go to the same one, so it’s not an issue at all.”

Harry nods, turning to look at Niall. They have a silent conversation with their eyes, nodding to each other before they turn to look back at Liam. 

“We’ll think about it,” Harry says, standing up. “In the mean time, I’m going to my room.” 

“Me too,” Niall says, jumping up, sending his chair skidding across the floor as he bounces off towards his bedroom. 

Louis looks towards Liam, who doesn’t look convinced that they won this argument. 

“And we can get a dog,” Liam calls after them, smiling sheepishly when Louis raises an eyebrow at him. 

~~~ 

Louis waits until he hears the door of his kids’ rooms shut before he turns to Liam, holding his hands out. Liam knows what he’s looking for, pulling his phone out of his pocket and passing it over towards Louis. He grabs a chair, pulling it over and taking a seat. 

“It’s open, just hit the Internet,” Liam tells him, leaning against Louis so he can look at the house with Louis. 

It’s a pretty house, Louis admits to himself, nodding in approval, with cream-colored siding and black shutters and a large porch that spans the front of the house. The door is ornate and wooden, Louis thinks. It’s hard to tell from the small image on Liam’s phone. It reads just like Liam mentioned. Louis kind of loves it. He loves that the yard is big enough to accommodate three boys, three active boys. And he loves the fact that there is enough room for everyone to have their own space in the house, instead of forcing them to share. 

“It’s great,” Louis tells him, reading about the accommodations in the house, about the laundry room and the granite countertops. “It’s new.” 

“Yeah, no one has ever lived in it before,” Liam says. “I think they said it was a show house, or something, but now they’re ready to sell it, so like, it’ll be ours, you know?” 

“It’s really great,” Louis repeats, because he doesn’t know what else to say. He loves it and he can see them there. That’s what he loves most about the house. He can picture his sons in it and Liam and Zayn, the five of them becoming one family under the roof of that house. “Liam, this is amazing.” 

“I made an appointment for us to tour it tomorrow. That’s why I wanted to talk to you about it tonight. It’s open to the public next week, but I want to get in there soon. I really love the house.”

Louis nods, still staring at the images of the house. They’ve looked at so many, Liam sending him ad after ad after ad for houses in the area, but this one is perfect. Staring at it, Louis can feel everything inside of him vibrating with excitement. 

There’s still so many questions for this situation, like how they’re going to furnish it, what they’re going to do with their own houses, which aren’t even up for sale yet, but Louis isn’t worried about that, not yet. For now he’s just happy, happy that they find something might become theirs, that might help guide the two families together. 

“My mom is really happy about you guys coming over tonight,” Liam says after a long stretch of silence. 

Louis snorts. “Yeah, my boys are excited too.”

“Right, I’m sure they are,” Liam mumbles, taking his phone back from Louis. “Zayn’s already over there, so we should get going soon. Are you going to tell them about it, or am I?”

~~~ 

“Harry,” Zayn shouts, dropping his train set to rush towards them. He stops at the door, arm wrapping around his father’s thigh as he stares up at them. “Hi, Harry.” 

“Hey, buddy,” Harry mumbles, bending down to pick Zayn up. Louis sees Liam shake his head, smiling as he motions for them all to come in. 

“Zayn, where’s Nana?” Liam asks, closing the door once everyone is inside. Zayn shrugs as Liam’s mom shouts that she’s in the other room, she’ll be in in a moment. “You guys can make yourselves at home. Harry, Niall, anything you guys want to eat or do, just help yourselves, okay?” 

“Can I go home?” Niall asks. 

“Niall, you can make it for one dinner,” Louis tells him, resting his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Besides, I’m sure Zayn is happy to see you both, so how about you let him show you around?” 

“See my toys,” Zayn says, nodding his head as Harry sets him down on the floor. “Okay? Come and see.” He grabs Niall’s hand, smiling at him and walking him towards the living room, Harry following behind. 

“He’ll be fine,” Louis says, taking one look at Liam’s face. He knows what he’s thinking, how he’s worried that maybe Niall doesn’t want to be here, maybe he’d rather be somewhere else. He’s worried that it might be too soon or that they’re making Niall do something that he doesn’t want to do, which they be doing, but Niall was okay with it until they walked in the door, so Louis thinks that he’ll be fine. “He just needs to settle in a bit. Once he finds something to do he’ll be fine, even if it’s just watching TV or something.” 

“You sure?” 

“Positive, Liam. I know my son,” he says, grinning at him. 

“Alright come on,” Liam says, taking Louis’ hand and guiding him through the house. They pass the boys, the three of them sitting on the floor as Zayn goes through his toy chest, pulling each toy out and telling Harry and Niall about it. 

Liam pulls Louis into the kitchen, where a shorter, older woman is puttering about, stirring frantically and checking the stove. She’s wearing a purple dress that reaches her knees, a white and yellow apron over it that reads ‘world’s greatest grandma’ on the front. 

“Mom,” Liam mutters, letting go of Louis’ hand to move across the room. “Mom, what are you doing?” 

“I’m making a cake,” she tells him, elbowing him when he tries to dip his fingers in the icing. “Dinners in the oven, but we got to have desert. I made cookies and brownies and now I’m making a cake.” 

“They don’t need all those sweets, Mom.” 

“Well, I don’t know what they like,” she says, turning around to face Louis. She’s got a wide smile on her face, her eyes crinkled shut, as she stares at Louis. “I’m so happy you’re here,” she says. “Liam hasn’t been with anyone in so long, not since Zayn was born.” 

“Mom.” 

“What? I’m just saying, you’ve been lonely. He’ll never admit it, though, but he has been. Or he was. He’s not anymore.” 

“Well, I’m happy to fix that,” Louis says, grinning, enjoying the fact that Liam is blushing, his cheeks stained red as his mother continues to talk about him. She tells Louis everything she can, pointing out pictures of Liam as a kid on the fridge, and showing off the ones she has of Zayn as well. She talks and talks until Liam’s cheeks are no longer red and he mostly looks exasperatingly fond. Louis listens to everything she gives him, all the little details about Liam that he didn’t know before. She mostly talks about Zayn, though, telling Liam what to do with the cake so that she can sit Louis down and show him all kinds of things, pictures and drawings he’s done. 

It’s nice, meeting her and learning a bit more about the two of them. It’s not like Liam is a closed book, but sometimes there are things to be learned about people that you can’t get from them alone, that sometimes other people are needed to give you that little insight to them. 

“Are these your boys?” Liam’s mom asks, hands clasped in front of her face as she stares down at Harry and Niall. 

“Yeah, these are them,” Louis says. “That’s Harry, my oldest, and this one is Niall.” 

Harry waves from his spot across the room, unable to stand with Zayn sitting in his lap. “Hi,” he says, smiling. 

“It’s Harry,” Zayn shouts, pointing behind him. “Nana, it’s Harry.” 

“I know it is,” she says. “He talks about you both all the time.” 

“All the time,” Liam agrees, leaning against the doorframe. 

“Hi, Dada.” 

“Hi, Baby. Do you want to show Harry to the kitchen so that you can wash your hands for dinner?” 

“Okay.” Zayn nods as he stands, holding a hand out to help Harry off the floor. “Have to clean. Niall, come on.” 

Louis trades a look with Liam, the two of them smiling. 

~~~ 

Much like she did with dessert, Liam’s mom makes far more than necessary for dinner. It looks like Christmas dinner, with a giant ham in the center of the table and an array of side dishes scattered around. She blushes when Liam tells her that this is far too much, but she merely swats at his hands, telling him that means they’ll have enough to take home. 

“Growing boys need their food,” she tells him, passing Louis the potatoes with a firm nod, to say she won’t hear anymore about it, despite the rosy hue of her skin that tells Louis she’s a little worried she might have over done it than she’s letting on. 

Luckily enough, she’s right. Niall and Harry eat more than enough, more than they would at home, at least. Louis’ not sure if it’s because of the fact they’re guests in someone else’s house, or if it’s because Liam’s mom keeps placing food on their plates when they’re not looking. 

Louis feels like he’s ready to burst at the seams when she and Liam begin to carry in the desserts that she’s mad. Louis is envious of his children, both of which happily stare at the food, ready for more. Louis hasn’t been able to eat like them in years, not without stomach cramps and a lot of whining on his part. 

“You’re really good at cooking,” Niall says, licking a bit of chocolate icing out of the corner of his mouth. “Did you go to school?” 

“No, I learned it all on my own.” 

“Wow,” Niall says, nodding impressively. “You should go to school for it.”

“Do you know what you’re going to school for?” 

“I’m going to be a soccer player,” Niall tells her, nodding seriously. “Professional. But Dad says I have to go to school, so I’m going for soccer.” 

“Oh wow,” Liam’s mom says. “Zayn says that you two like to kick the ball around sometimes.” 

“All the time,” Zayn corrects. 

“All the time, forgive me.” 

“Yeah, well, someone has to teach Zayn how to score a goal.” 

“I scored five,” Zayn says, holding up his hand to show his grandma. “Nana, how many you do?” 

“Oh Nana’s not very good at sports, is she? That’s we do other things outside, like work in the garden. Nana works in the garden.” 

“Nana makes flowers,” Zayn says, nodding. 

Liam’s mom smiles, reaching out to run her fingers through Zayn’s hair as she grabs another cookie. “Do you play sports, Harry?” 

Harry shakes his head, wiping the cookie crumbs off his mouth before he speaks. “No, I’m not very good,” Harry admits, shrugging. 

Louis sighs as he watches them, leaning back against his chair. Liam pats his thigh, winking at him. It’s nice, Louis thinks, spending an evening watching his children get to know his boyfriend’s mother. Nicer than he thought it would have been. 

~~~

It’s quiet when they get back to Louis’ place, Harry and Niall disappearing to their bedrooms while Zayn curls up with Liam on the couch, watching a movie. Louis is sitting on the other end, bundle of yarn at his side as he knits. It’s just something to pass the time, trying to figure out how to work a new stitch as they settle into their nightly routine. 

Louis spares a glance towards Liam to see that Zayn is asleep against his chest, Liam’s fingers carding through his son’s hair as he sleeps. That’s one less thing to worry about, putting Zayn to bed. They haven’t discussed if Liam was sleeping at Louis’ place for the night, but Louis thinks they probably are. He spends most nights sleeping with Zayn between him and Liam. 

There’s movement at the end of the hall, doors opening and closing and feet moving down the hall before Louis sees both Harry and Niall standing at the end of the couch, staring down at Louis. 

“Did you need something?” Louis asks, setting his knitting down to look up at them. 

“At dinner tonight, when you two were cleaning the dishes, Liam’s mom talked to us,” Harry tells them. 

“What’d she say?” Liam asks, voice quiet. 

“She asked us about the new house that you two want to buy,” Niall says, looking up at Harry. 

“She wanted to know how we felt and if you were both listening to what we wanted, and to make sure that we were really listening to you guys,” Harry says, releasing a deep breath. “So we thought about it.” 

“And we have some conditions.”

Louis turns to look at Liam, the two of them exchange a look before Louis turns back to face his sons. “What are these conditions?” 

“We each get our own room,” Harry says. 

“And we get to paint the walls whatever color we want,” Niall adds. 

“Done and done,” Louis says. They’ve both already decided the color of their bedrooms now, so it’s not much of an argument. It’s not like they’re really twisting Louis’ arm. Not yet at least. 

“I’m not changing schools,” Harry says firmly, staring at Louis and then at Liam, making sure they both understand. 

“That won’t happen, Harry. I promise,” Liam tells him. “Nothing will change besides where you’re living, that’s it. Your father and I both want this to be as easy as possible on both of you.”

“Good,” Niall says, nudging Harry with his elbow. “And you have to make breakfast and dinner everyday, for at least a year.” 

“I think I can manage that one,” Liam tells them, laughing lightly. “Lucky for you two, Zayn’s not old enough to make his own meals, so I have to cook for him for quite a few more years.” 

“Well, now you have to include us in that,” Niall tells him. 

“Anything else from you, Harry?” Louis asks, staring up at his eldest. 

Harry shakes his head, shrugging. “I didn’t really have anything besides my own room and going to the same school,” he admits, sighing. “I don’t really care that you two want to live together and we’re forced to go along. It’s cool, or whatever. Liam and Zayn are here all the time anyway, so I don’t care, I just don’t want to lose my friends because of it.” 

“That won’t happen,” Louis assures him again, because it’s important to him that Harry understands he won’t let anything happen to Harry’s life, at least from his influence. As much as he wants to seek out his own happiness, he’ll never be happy knowing that it’s made his kids miserable. Louis needs their acceptance and approval on this, the assurance that they’ll both be okay, at least after an adjustment period. 

Niall frowns up at Harry, elbowing him harshly in the side. “Say that other thing.” 

“What other thing?” Harry asks, confused. 

Niall sighs, shaking his head. “We want the dog you promised.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long, embarrassingly enough, I actually forgot about this. :/ I'm nearly finished with the final chapter, and it'll be out by the weekend, promise! Thank you for your patience!


	44. Chapter 44

If Liam didn’t know any better, he’d think that a tornado hit the town the night before. Maybe even an hour ago, judging from the damage. But he does know better, so he’s not sure why the inside of Louis’ house looks like a disaster zone. 

“What happen?” Zayn asks, eyes wide as he stares at Liam. 

“I’m not sure, buddy,” he says, adjusting Zayn in his arms as he closes the front door. Well, he does know that Louis wanted to spend today packing, but he’s not sure why Louis’ method involves destroying the house. They have to sell this, after all, destroying it just won’t do. “Lou?” 

“Over here,” Louis shouts, his arm shooting up to show that he’s behind the couch. 

“Louis, what happened in here?” Liam asks, setting Zayn down on the couch. “Stay there, okay?” 

Zayn nods, folding his legs under his body and dropping his hands in his lap. He smiles up at Liam, taking the remote from him and moving to find something on the television. 

“We have a lot of stuff,” Louis says as way of explanation. “A lot of stuff.” 

“Did all that stuff just explode on you or something?” 

Louis laughs, shaking his head. “No. I’m just not very good at packing.” 

Liam nods, glancing around at the open and empty boxes in the room. He’s really not sure what happened and why Louis let this happen. But it’s okay. It’s nothing that Liam can’t fix, nothing he can’t make better. They just have to figure out what they’re doing, really. 

“Okay, so we just need a plan, that’s all. Um. Okay. We need to pack up the stuff that you don’t need, the things that you can go without for a couple days, like throw pillows, all those blankets and the decorations, all that stuff.” 

“I tried that,” Louis says, shifting around to sit on his knees so that he’s looking at Liam. “I’m not sure what happened.” 

“It’s messy,” Zayn says, setting his hand on top of Louis’. “Very messy.” 

Louis sighs, nodding, his shoulders dropping in defeat. “Will you help me, Zayn?” 

“I can clean,” Zayn tells him, sliding off the couch. 

It’s easier with three people. They manage to pack away all the little things around Louis’ house and toss out things they won’t need, like old magazines and junk mail that had been piling up. Zayn helps Louis pack up books while Liam carefully packs away the pictures and the drawings on Louis’ walls, wrapping each of them with newspaper so nothing happens to them. They already have four closed boxes, filled with their winter coats and a bunch of shoes and movies and throw pillows and blankets and everything that they can get their hands on, really. 

“It’s starting to look much better,” Liam says, folding a piece of newspaper carefully. “We can see the floor.” 

Louis rolls his eyes, handing Zayn another book. “Yeah, well, what about your house? I’m sure it looks just as bad. It’s not easy packing up an entire house.”

“It’s almost finished,” Liam admits, shrugging when Louis turns to look at him. 

“How can you have done that so quickly?” 

“Zayn and I have been working on it all week,” he tells him, setting the framed picture of Harry and Niall in the box. “It helps when you don’t have any distractions. Plus, some of it I turned into a game for Zayn. He loves helping and he loves games, so it worked out pretty well, I think.”

“Wish my kids were so easy to convince,” Louis mumbles, handing Zayn the last book. He sighs, stretching his arms up over his head. “Zayn, you want a juice or something? Maybe a cookie? I think we’ve worked hard enough, we deserve a treat.” 

“Two cookies,” Zayn says, trying to close the lid on the box. 

“All right, if you insist,” Louis mumbles, trying his best to look put out. Like he’s not going to go into the living room and giving Zayn at least three cookies. 

Zayn smiles at that, reaching up to grab Louis’ hand so they can go and get the snacks together. “Dada gets two cookies.” 

Liam finishes packing up the wall by the time the two of them come back, plate full of cookies and three cups of milk. Zayn has a smile on his face, grinning at Liam as he takes a bite out of a cookie. It’s better than the rewards that Liam gave him at home and judging by the looks of it, Zayn knows it too. 

“Dada, eat.” 

“Alright, will you pick me one?” Liam asks, moving across the room, dropping down on the couch and accepting the cookie that Zayn hands him. “Oh, chocolate chip.” 

They eat together in silence, Liam glancing around the room and trying to figure out what else needs to be boxed before they move into the kitchen. It’s not much, surprisingly, which means that it’s one less room they need to worry about, if Louis, Niall and Harry can keep it clean. 

Harry comes rushing into the living room a few minutes later, Niall following close behind. The two look like they have a lot to say, which worries him, if Liam’s being honest. 

“How are your rooms coming along?” Louis asks, lifting up his glass of milk. “I haven’t heard anything out of the two of you, so I hope that means good things.” 

“Of course it does,” Harry says, shaking his curls out of his eyes. “It’s so good, really. But um, I was wondering if I could go out. With Nick. He asked me to the movies with him. I really want to go. I really, really want to go.” 

“He shouldn’t go, because Harry hasn’t packed anything,” Niall says. “He’s been in his room texting.”

“Will you shut up?” Harry mumbles, shoving at his brother. “That’s not true. I packed almost all of my clothes, besides enough for this week. I took down all the stuff on my walls.” 

“I packed a lot more,” Niall says, shrugging when Harry glares at him. “I’m just saying.” 

Harry breathes out, rolling his eyes. “Can I go out, Dad? Please. Please, please. I haven’t seen Nick in forever, and he asked me to go somewhere. Please don’t make me say no.” 

Harry’s doing his best begging face, green eyes wide as he stares at Louis. Liam thinks his lip might be jutted out slightly, but he can’t be sure. He turns to look at Louis, who is rubbing his hands on his knees, face thoughtful. 

“Please,” Zayn whines from between them, his own face mimicking Harry’s as he begs for something that has nothing to do with him. 

“Eat your cookies,” Liam instructs, watching as Zayn takes a bite of his snack, his eyes still begging Louis. 

“Alright. You and Niall can call it a day, that’s fine. 

“Thank you,” Harry breathes out, moving forward to wrap Louis in a hug. “Oh my god, thank you.” Louis looks surprised, as Harry walks away, his phone already in his hand, texting Nick back, no doubt. “Thank you, you’re the best, I love you,” Harry shouts as he disappears from sight. 

“Wow,” Louis mutters, picking up another cookie. “Who knew all you had to do was say yes to a date in order to hear your praises.” 

“I think you made a mistake,” Niall says, sitting down next to Liam and grabbing a cookie. “A mistake to let Harry go out, you did the right thing when you said I could stop packing.” 

~~~ 

Liam stays the night that night, working hard until almost eleven to pack Louis house. They’re scheduled to move into the new house in two days. Liam has to be out of his house for the realtor by then, while Louis has an extra week, so it’s not like they need to rush this process, but it’d be nice to have everything finished when they move into the new place. 

The process went faster then they thought it would, their offer on the house being accepted faster than they were told it would be. And then it was paperwork on paperwork, signing their names on different lines. But eventually, the house was theirs, and in a few days, they’ll officially be living together, two families under one roof. 

It’s going to be interesting, an adventure, some might say, but Liam’s ready for it. 

Louis and Zayn are already in bed, Zayn curled up in the middle of the bed, sleeping on his stomach with his butt in the air. Louis is next to him, just settling into bed from the looks of it when Liam steps out of the bathroom, rubbing a bit of toothpaste out of the corner of his mouth. 

Shutting the light off, Liam climbs into bed, mindful of the sleeping boy already in bed. He sighs as he settles back against the mattress, staring at the darkened ceiling. 

“In a few days we’ll be sleeping just the two of us,” Louis whispers from the other side of the bed, obviously talking about Zayn. “We’ll be in another house, one that’s ours. Kind of crazy, if you think about it.” 

“Yeah,” Liam agrees, nodding. “It’s a lot crazy, actually. Did you ever think this would happen?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Like, when we first met, did you ever think that we’d be living together?” 

“You mean when I stalked you?” Louis asks quietly, laughing. “No, I never thought of it. I just knew—I don’t know, you were good looking and I wanted to talk to you. It’s weird; I used to think that stuff like this would never happen to me. I’ve never been very good with love, so I never thought anyone would ever want to move in with me.” 

“Well, I do,” Liam tells him, honest and sincere. For all he thought of Louis in the beginning, he really does love him now. Liam can’t really imagine his life without him, or without Niall and Harry. Liam’s not sure where he’d get such brutal honesty if he didn’t have Louis’ kids in his life, for better or for worse, he thinks. “I mean, I love you.” 

“I’m happy that I stalked you then,” Louis teases, kicking Liam gently under the blankets. “Although, I’m not sure you’re supposed to reward someone as crazy as I am. You should have called the cops.” 

Liam shrugs, yawning. His eyes blink closed and he sighs, because yeah, Louis has a point. “Well, I wouldn’t change any of it. Not even the bits where Harry and Niall hated me. It all worked out in the end. We’re happy, we’re healthy, we’re in love, and soon, one day, we’ll all be a family. Life just works in funny ways,” Liam mumbles, yawning once more, his eyelids heavy. 

“Yeah, maybe,” he hears Louis mutter, voice soft and quiet. “Guess you’re stuck with us now.” 

~~~ 

“Okay, before we go in there,” Louis says, key in his hand, “I want to establish something first. This is our new house, and you’re both allowed to choose your bedrooms. However-“ 

“Of course,” Harry mumbles, rolling his eyes. 

“What now?” Niall asks, sighing. 

“The big bedroom is for me and Liam,” Louis says, shoving the key in the slot. 

“And the bedroom next to that is for Zayn, because your dad and I figured that neither of you would want to be next to us. So, that means there are two unaccounted for rooms at the other end of the hall,” Liam explains, watching as Louis turns the key. 

“And they’re yours to fight over,” he announces, swinging the door open. 

Niall shoves Harry first, taking off for the stares with Harry right behind him. Liam listens as they argue, Harry’s long legs getting him up the stairs faster. He’s almost certain that he hears Niall curse at that, but he’s not going to make a big deal out of it. Not today. 

“They’re going to kill each other,” Louis mumbles, shaking his head. “You go upstairs and make sure the movers put things in the right spot. I’m going to go tell these guys where all that shit goes down here.” 

Liam nods, watching as Louis marches off, an authoritative quality to his stride. 

“Ready to go see your room,” Liam says, bouncing Zayn on his hip as they walk up the stairs. The higher they get on the staircase, the more he can hear Harry and Niall arguing. It doesn’t sound sincere, more like they want to argue just for arguments sake, which…yeah, Liam can see them doing it. 

Zayn’s room is bright, his windows without blinds or curtains yet. He sets Zayn down on the floor, moving to check and make sure that all of the boxes in the room belong to his son. 

“Dada, it’s big,” Zayn says, looking around, eyes wide. 

“It’ll be smaller when we unpack your boxes, baby,” Liam says, nodding in satisfaction. All boxes present and accounted for. They’ll have to make Zayn’s bed tonight, the rest can be taken care of later. “What do you think? Do you like it? It is bigger than your old one, though, isn’t it?” 

“It’s empty,” Zayn says, frowning as he leans against his bed. 

“I know it is, we have to unpack. We’ll make it look like your room,” Liam promises, sitting down on the bed next to Zayn. He’s happy that he and Louis decided to move the big stuff, like beds, into the house the day before, even if they all had to sleep on the floor in Louis’ house the night before. All the bedrooms were moved yesterday, and today it’s the lower level, with the living room and dining room and kitchen stuff. “Do you know what Dada wants to do before we unpack?” 

“What?” 

“We’re gonna paint your room. We’re gonna make it any color you want,” Liam says, as Zayn gasps in surprise, a smile growing on his face. “Do you know what color you want?” 

“Green,” Zayn says quickly, nodding. “Like a flower.”

“We can do that,” Liam says, nodding as he looks around. A nice pale green would look nice, a color that Zayn won’t loathe when he gets older. It’ll be good. 

Zayn crawls up on the bed next to him, lying down and throwing his legs off the side of the bed, letting them dangle. Liam lies back, putting his body next to Zayn’s as they stare up at the ceiling. 

“You remember what we talked about, right? About the new house?” Liam asks, turning his head so that he can look at Zayn. 

“I don’t ‘member,” Zayn tells him, shaking his head. 

“Remember, I told you that it’s not going to be just us anymore. The new house means that we’re going to always have Harry and Niall and Louis with us when we sleep, except now you don’t have to sleep with Daddy and Louis, you get your own bed, just like at home. Just like Harry and Niall,” Liam explains. He’s still not sure how you’re supposed to talk to someone Zayn’s age about moving and merging households, but Zayn doesn’t seem bothered, so maybe he’s done a good job. 

“I ‘member, Dada,” Zayn says. 

“So you know it’s not going to be just Dada and Zayn anymore,” Liam says, sighing. “But we’ll still do special things, just us. We’ll still have Power Ranger night. We’ll still go for runs in your stroller, everything. Dada and Zayn first, always,” Liam promises. 

“Okay, Dada,” Zayn says, sitting up. “But it’s empty.” 

“I know it is, baby,” Liam laughs, sitting up. “We’ll fix that, promise. Then we’ll do Power Ranger night.” 

“Knock knock,” comes Louis’ voice, his knuckles sounding against the door.

“What’s up?” Liam asks. 

“Can you get the boys out of this house? I’ll work with the movers, make sure everything goes where it’s supposed to, but those two are going to drive me insane,” Louis tells him. 

Liam nods, rubbing at the stubble on his jaw as he thinks of what he can do with all three of them for the day. Actually, he knows just the thing. A promise he made that he doesn’t intend on breaking. 

“Yeah, I know just the thing,” Liam says, grabbing Zayn as he stands.

~~~ 

The animal shelter has more people inside of it than Liam thought there would be. He was under no assumptions that it would be empty, but do this many people really want to bring a new pet into their house on the same day that Liam wants to look around? It’s kind of ridiculous. 

“We all have to agree on the dog,” Liam says, pulling the three kids into a corner to talk. “No preference, so we can get a puppy, an older dog, whatever you want, as long as we all agree on it.” 

“I’d rather get a puppy,” Niall says, scratching his cheek. “They’re cuter and they’ll like me more.” 

“Well, we’ll walk around, see what they have, and then if nothing else, we can go somewhere else. Lots of places in town sell animals, this doesn’t have to be the only place we go to,” Liam tells him, sighing when Zayn pulls his hand out of his. “Zayn, you have to hold my hand.” 

“I don’t wanna,” Zayn says, folding his arms so that his hands aren’t accessible. 

“Then walk in front of me. I want to be able to see you, okay?” 

Zayn nods and with that, they’re off. Liam sticks with Zayn, who isn’t really concerned about finding the dogs, he just wants to look at everything. Niall and Harry move away from them, going to actually find the thing they came here for. Zayn stops to look at the rabbits and fish and guinea pigs and spending a great amount of time with the birds, trying to get them to talk to him, but they haven’t checked out the dogs, not yet. 

Eventually they make their way back there, and Liam is annoyed to find Niall and Harry arguing about god knows what. He doesn’t really care to find out why, besides to get them to stop. As they get closer, Liam can hear that the fight is dying down, with no clue what ever started it. 

“Is everything good?” Liam asks, looking between the two of them. Harry nods and Niall shrugs, glaring at Harry. Liam sighs. Well, at least they’re not arguing anymore. “Harry, why don’t you take Zayn and show him some of the dogs. Niall, you and I, let’s go for a walk, yeah?” 

“Yeah, alright,” Niall mumbles, stomping off in the direction that Liam and Zayn just were, towards the rabbits. 

Liam turns to follow him, pulling him over towards a stack of pet food. He kneels down, waiting patiently while Niall stares out the window, trying to process his emotions and thoughts. Finally with a sigh, Niall turns towards him, shrugging.

“He just makes me mad sometimes.”

“Well, he’s a big brother, it happens. He’s going to do that forever, I bet.” 

“He talks to me like I’m dumb. He just—we were looking at dogs. And he—“ Niall cuts himself off, shrugging once more. “I don’t know. I just hate that he thinks I’m dumb. I don’t even know what to say to not be dumb.” 

“You’re not dumb. And Harry doesn’t think that—He just. Harry’s Harry. I know that’s not much help, but that’s just how he is. Sometimes it’s hard to read his tone, but I think he likes winding you up. Maybe next time you can ignore him, or just smile at him.” 

“Smiling won’t do anything.” 

“It’ll let him know you’re not going to play his game. Just smile and walk away. You can come talk to me, if you want, when Harry’s bothering you.” 

Niall breathes out, blue eyes skeptical when he nods. “Do you really think it’ll work?” 

“Worth a shot, isn’t it?” 

“Yeah, okay. It’ll make him the dumb one.” Niall smiles at that, looking like he’s glad that Liam finally had a good idea. That’s what had meant when he told him to smile and walk away but…well, whatever worked in Niall’s mind. Maybe it’ll get the two of them to calm down as they settle into the new house. 

Liam makes a mental note to read up on how children act towards changes like this. Zayn will transition well enough; easily adaptable at his age, but Liam’s never had to deal with teenagers and pre-teens. There is probably an article or two on the subject. Hopefully. 

“Um, Liam,” Harry says, appearing suddenly at Liam’s side. He’s fidgeting, glancing around to try and see around Liam. “Um. I can’t find Zayn.” 

Liam blinks, body moving to a stand. He blinks again, because. Well, he’s almost positive that Harry just told him he lost his son, which most definitely can’t be right. “What do you mean?” 

“I don’t know where he is,” Harry says, voice breaking a bit. “He was there and then—I looked down and he wasn’t. He wanted to walk and I— I looked for him. He’s not— Liam, I tried to find him.” 

“You lost him?” Niall cries, hands going up in the air. 

“Okay,” Liam breaks out, heart pumping erratically in his chest. “Niall, go and find a worker, let them know about Zayn, please. He was wearing…” Liam can’t remember. His mind is racing on too much. He could have been wearing anything and it was Louis that helped him get dressed that morning. Liam was loading a few boxes into his car. 

“Blue and white striped shorts, with a green shirt that had a blue boat on it,” Niall says. 

“Right, just tell them that and what he looks like, so they know who they’re looking for.” Niall nods, rushing off towards the back of the store. “Did you check outside?” Liam asks. He doesn’t think Zayn would go out there and the store is large enough that he could get lost. They have small animals out here, but there is two giant rooms filled with dogs and another filled with older cats, along with a kitty hang out where the senior cats spend their time. Zayn could be anywhere, especially with animals around. 

“No, I didn’t. I’m really sorry, Liam. Should I go look?” 

Liam scrubs at his face, wishing that he didn’t have to deal with the cracking of Harry’s voice and the worry in his eyes, especially when he doesn’t know where his son is. 

“Let’s do another sweep through in here, then we’ll go out there,” Liam instructs, feet moving to glance around the shop. “Can you tell me what happened?” 

“We were looking through the glass, at some of the puppies. And I—I’m really sorry,” Harry mumbles, trailing behind Liam. “I checked my phone for a second and when I looked back down at him, he was gone. I didn’t think he could have gone far, so I just kept walking, but then he wasn’t—I couldn’t find him anywhere.” 

Liam doesn’t even know where to begin, not when it comes to searching for Zayn. He knows his son and he knows that he wouldn’t wander off far. He’s inside the building; they just need to figure out where. 

“Harry, it’s not your fault. Kids do this. It’s- you’re not to blame.” 

“I feel so bad.” Harry breathes out, releasing a shaky breath. 

Liam sighs, stopping. “Don’t freak out,” he says and he’s not talking about Zayn. He pulls Harry in, hugging him close, listening to the sharp intakes of air that Harry’s breathing in, like he’s trying not to cry. Harry would never let anything happen to Zayn; Liam’s not worried about that. They just need to find him, is all. Harry doesn’t hug him back, just rests his head on Harry’s shoulder and takes shaky breaths, trying to calm down. 

“It’s all right, Harry,” Liam tells him, rubbing his back. “Zayn’s just excited to be here. He’s inside, don’t worry, and he probably doesn’t even know you’re not with him, he’s too happy to be around all the animals.” 

“I lost him,” Harry mumbles, voice muffled against the fabric of Liam’s shirt. 

“Liam,” Niall shouts and Liam turns to see him rushing towards them, smile on his face. Harry pulls away and Liam lets go of him, staring at Niall. “Zayn broke into the dog cages. He’s inside a dog cage,” Niall says excitedly, grinning. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“I went to find a worker, but I found Zayn,” he says, grabbing onto Liam’s arm and tugging him in the direction that Liam and Harry were walking too before they stopped. “I heard some lady say something about some kid cuddling a dog, so I went to look, and it was Zayn. He broke into the cage!” 

Sure enough, there’s Zayn, sat in the corner of a dog cage with a puppy on his lap. A worker is sitting outside the cage, talking to Zayn. Liam can’t hear what’s being said as she pushes through the crowd, yanking open the employee door to give him access into the room. 

“Sir, you’re not allowed back here,” the man says, standing up. 

“That’s my son,” Liam tells him and the man nods, smiling, looking slightly relieved. “I’m so sorry.” 

“He’s not the first,” the employee says. “He must have followed me in when I came to grab a pup for another family. Had some people report a child in a cage, and well… He’s not exactly coming out.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Liam repeats, shaking his head. 

“Is he alright?” Harry asks, leaning over Liam. 

“Can I ask the two of you to wait outside?” The employee asks. 

“No,” Niall says stubbornly, leaning against Liam’s back to look over his shoulder. “Zayn, are you crazy?” 

“Sir…” 

“They’re—mine,” Liam says, refusing to look up at the man. Honestly, it’s not the end of the world. “Zayn, sweetie, you have to get out of the cage.”

“Dada, look,” Zayn says, pointing towards the puppy that’s nibbling on his shirt. “He likes me.” 

“I bet he does,” Liam says, reaching in for Zayn. The puppy growls, jumping forward and grabbing at Zayn’s shirt again, trying to tug him back into the cage, back into the little corner. 

“Dada, he likes me. I want to stay!” 

“Alright,” Liam says, dropping back on his heels to look at Zayn. He looks perfectly fine, hair a little messy and shirt rumpled, but no harm done. He’s pouting, however, glaring at Liam with his bottom lip out at having been pulled out of the cage. 

“Dada.” 

“Zayn, you’re not allowed to be in there,” Liam tells him, lifting Zayn off the ground. “You scared me. You scared Harry.” 

“Sorry,” Zayn mumbles, dropping his face into Liam’s shoulder. “The puppy likes me.” 

Niall laughs from his place on the floor, hand extended into the cage. The puppy is licking it, chewing on his fingers as his body wiggles in excitement. It’s a cute dog, colored white and black and tan. Two tan dots over his eyes, with a white face and black nose, and black fur that covers the puppy’s ears and parts of it’s face. It’s cute. Really cute. 

He looks over towards Harry, who is staring back at him, nodding like he understands what Liam’s silently asking him. 

“Do you think we could get one of those rooms with this one?” Liam asks the employee, who nods and motions once more for them to leave the room. 

~~~

The puppy, it turns out, is a girl, and she seems to love her new house as much as Liam does. After an evening of chewing on Zayn’s shorts and Niall’s hand, they decide to name her Riley. It’s Harry’s idea, the only name that didn’t involve a television character (Zayn’s idea), another animal (Niall’s idea). They all agreed it worked for her, the only girl in the house. 

“I can’t believe you took them to buy a dog,” Louis says, climbing into bed next to Liam. Their bed in their bedroom located in their house. “I thought you were going to see a movie, maybe get some ice cream. But you got a dog.” 

“I promised them that,” Liam explains, rolling onto his side so he can face Louis. “I can’t break those promises.” 

“Still. I’d have liked to been there, you know.” 

“Sorry.” 

Louis shrugs, like it’s not a big deal. “It’s all right. I got the kitchen unpacked and the floors vacuumed and cleaned. I made our bed, made the boys’ beds. I had an eventual day, I think.” 

“You did,” Liam agrees, scooting closer so he can wrap an arm around Louis’ waist. “And you did an amazing job.” 

“Of course I did,” Louis says, batting his eyelashes. “I did it, after all.” 

Liam snorts, pinching Louis’ side. “You know, my day was pretty eventual as well. It turns out pet stores aren’t just places to buy animals.” 

“What do you mean?” 

Liam sighs. Where does he even start, honestly? “Well, instead of lashing out on Harry during an argument about who knows what, Niall let me pull him aside and give him advice. He even told me how he was feeling, something he doesn’t usually do, unlike Harry.” 

“Yeah? That’s good. I figured they’d fight while they were out, but I’m glad that they were able to get over it. Well, as best the two of them are able to get over anything, I suppose.” 

“It worked, so I don’t even care, honestly,” Liam tells him truthfully. Niall and Harry, they won’t stop fighting over night, and Liam doesn’t except that to change, but anything that gets them to stop is a small victory in Liam’s opinion. 

“Did you find out why they were fighting?” 

“No, Niall just said that Harry makes him feel dumb.” 

Louis sighs, shaking his head, his hair scratching against the pillowcase. “They’re a mess, aren’t they?”

“A work in progress, I’d say.” 

“Of course you would,” Louis mumbles, rolling his eyes. 

“They never fight for long, so it’s not bad,” Liam tells him. “At least not today.” 

“Thanks to your lovely advice?” 

“No, thanks to the fact that your son lost mine.” 

Louis blinks, sitting up and staring down at Liam. “Which one?” 

“Harry. He was with Zayn while I was talking to Niall and well,” Liam shrugs, telling Louis the story of what happened, not leaving out any details. He tells him everything Harry said, how he was on the verge of tears, and how he let Liam hug him in an effort to calm him down. 

“I should go talk to him,” Louis says, throwing the blanket off his body. Liam stops him, grabbing his arm. “Liam, he was upset.” 

“He was scared. He’s fine now,” Liam says, gently coaxing Louis back into bed. “Harry was worried that he had lost Zayn and that something would happen to him, he’s never been out in public and had a child rush off on him. He’s fine.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“Positive,” Liam mumbles, running his fingers through Louis’ hair. “Besides this is our first night together in our house, sleeping in our bed. I’d really not like to waste it waking up one of the kids.” 

Louis grins at that. “Our house.” 

“It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” 

“I think so,” Louis agrees. “Although, I’ve had to do absolutely everything to get it looking this decent. You were no help, kidnapping the children and taking them to get a dog.” 

Liam rolls his eyes, listening as Louis continues to rattle off everything that Liam hasn’t done to help. He’s teasing, obviously, judging from his tone, but Liam still doesn’t want to hear it. He rolls over, settling himself over Louis’ body and shutting him up with his mouth pressing against his. 

Louis laughs into it, mumbling something against Liam’s lips that the other doesn’t catch. He doesn’t care to find out what it is. It’s their first night in their house, in their bedroom, in their bed, Liam figures there is some christening to be done. He’ll listen to Louis complain later, after all, Liam intends to be with the other boy for as long as possible, maybe longer. 

~~~~~~ 

Harry glares, his hands placed on his hips as Louis fiddles with the camera. Liam offers him a sympathetic smile, hoping that it’ll be enough to settle his nerves for a brief moment. Louis is excited, that’s all. 

“Liam, this stupid thing isn’t working. I told you that we should have just found my camera. Yours is obviously broken,” Louis grumbles, smacking the device in his hands and waving it around like a wild animal that’s just discovered technology. 

“Give it here, Lou,” Liam mumbles, trying to take the camera from Louis before he breaks it. “Louis.” 

“Damn thing is hopeless,” Louis tells him, handing it over. “Harry, you and Nick scoot closer together. I want to get pictures, you know this, look happy!” 

“Dad, we’re going to be late. His sister’s wedding isn’t going to be put on hold because you want pictures.” 

“It’s fine,” Nick says and Louis nods while Liam turns the camera on, trying not to look too smug when he hands it over to Louis. 

“Well,” Louis huffs out, snatching it from Liam. “Now that you’ve put us behind schedule. You heard them, Liam, his sister’s wedding won’t wait.” 

“I know it won’t, love,” Liam mumbles, biting back a smile. 

“Daddy,” Zayn says and Liam looks down, watching as his son tugs on his pant leg. “I—can I play?” 

“In a minute, sweetheart, promise. Louis just wants to take some pictures. Can you do some pictures for us?” 

“This is so stupid,” Harry grumbles, tugging at his tie. “I took dumb.” 

“You look handsome,” Louis corrects, passing Liam back the camera before he walks towards Harry, adjusting the pink daisy pinned to his suit jacket. Nick is dressed similarly, with a yellow daisy, though. Liam had to listen to two of them grumble for hours about having to wear suits to the wedding, mostly because Nick was the bride’s brother and well, he wasn’t going to be dressed like a duck alone, according to him. “And I’m almost done, promise. I just want a few of you with Niall and Zayn. That’s all and then I’m finished.” 

Harry stares at him, sighing and mumbling a quiet, “whatever.” 

“Excellent. Zayn, Niall, come stand by Harry, please,” Louis instructs, snatching the camera away from Liam. “Oh god, Liam, look at how adorable they are.” 

“Lovely,” Liam comments, smiling as Niall settles at Harry’s side, the place where Nick has just vacated. Zayn stands in front of them, leaning back against Harry, holding firmly to his own pink daisy as he grins at the camera. His smile is over exaggerated, pulling firmly at his cheeks as his eyes crinkle shut. They all look happy enough. 

“Okay, I’m finished,” Louis announces, grinning widely at everyone. “There hasn’t to be something in there that we can frame on the wall, yeah?” 

“I’m sure you got something, babe,” Liam tells him, taking the camera back before Louis can break it. He really is awful with stuff like this, expensive items that Liam would rather not see break. “You’re free to go now, Harry. Have fun.” 

“I will, thanks,” Harry smiles, tugging at his tie again. “I’ll be home—“ 

“By midnight,” Louis says. 

“He will, I promise,” Nick says, nodding. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Can I go?” Zayn asks, staring up at Harry. 

“Not tonight, buddy,” Harry says, kneeling down to talk to him. 

“I wanna.” 

“Next time. Promise,” Harry says, hugging him before he stands back up. 

“Go, he’ll be fine,” Liam says, waving him off. Harry smiles at him once more, offering everyone a wave before he and Nick are running for Nick’s car, at least a few minutes late for the wedding. Liam hopes Nick family aren’t too angry with them for keeping them. 

“Can we go now?” Niall says, forcing Liam to turn towards him. 

“Yeah, you can go. We’ll be out back in a minute,” Louis shouts at Niall’s retreating figure, who is holding onto Zayn’s hand, tugging him towards the back where Louis and Liam have promised them that they could swim. Riley is yapping at them as they come through the fence, happy to see two of her favorite people come to visit her. 

“The dogs going to get in the pool with them,” Liam says, throwing his arm over Louis’ shoulders.

Louis’ arm slips around Liam’s waist. He sighs and then shrugs, turning to look up at Liam. “Well, we did promise them a night of fun with their boring old dads, didn’t we?” 

“That we did,” Liam agrees, guiding Louis through the fence. He kisses the top of Louis’ head for no reason other than because he can, and because he’s happy. Louis smiles at him before he pulls away, tugging his shirt off and jumping into the pool with Niall and Zayn. Just as he suspected, Riley is in the pool, head just barely above water as she kicks her little legs to follow them around. 

Liam settles into a pool chair to watch them, crossing his legs at the ankle. It’s a wonderful sight, his new family together. They’re only missing one, but even still, Liam’s happy, and he can’t imagine life without any of them, despite it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's [Riley](https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7011/6654560575_173d236eba_b.jpg), for anyone interested. 
> 
> And thank you to everyone who has read this, whether you've been here for ages reading since the beginning, or if you're new. Either way, I appreciate all the love and support I received while writing this. Thank you <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
> 
> Here's my [tumblr](http://www.alnimawrites.tumblr.com) if you want to yell at me about this or anything :).


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